St. Louis Post-Dispatch columnist Bill McClellan published a column Wednesday, saying the U.S. military should do away with funeral honors, since “most veterans did nothing heroic” anyway.
“Both the federal government and the state government are broke. So why are we providing military funeral honors for all veterans?” he asked.
He then says that while he believes men and women who are killed in combat deserve full military honors, those who “spends a couple of years in the military” and then dies later on shouldn’t be worthy of the honor.
“Bear in mind that most veterans did nothing heroic,” he continued. “They served, and that’s laudable, but it hardly seems necessary to provide them all with military honors after they have died. In fact, it seems generous enough to provide veterans and their spouses with free space and headstones at a national cemetery.”
Mr. McClellan concludes that the government needs to cut “unnecessary” costs and military honors is a good place to start.
“We owe a lot to our veterans,” he wrote. “They might not have been heroes, but they served. I hope they join with me in considering this a final chance to serve their country. Let’s play taps for an unnecessary program.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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