As the Veterans’ Day holiday recedes into the past, I am reminded of how my views on military veterans have changed — and just how dramatically — all within the past six months.

This blog is still relatively new and (like most blogs) a work in progress.

One of my very first posts was a short contemplation on the Memorial Day weekend late this past spring.  (http://jaypochapin.wordpress.com/2013/05/27/a-few-thoughts-on-memorial-day/)  I still stand by what I wrote, but my perspective has absolutely undergone some change.

You see, I now work among veterans, probably to a greater degree than I ever have previously.  And I now see with greater clarity than ever before what happens when the flower of the country’s youth are sent to wage war in a foreign land.

Back in the day, in MY day, when I was personally concerned about such things, “the war” was Vietnam.  Like its predecessor in…