Kaliningrad, Russia’s Westernmost Outpost, Is Again a Flash Point in East-West Relations

NY Times ^ | June 22, 2022 | Dan Bilefsky

[Chainmail]

" They are not aristocrats who get to tell us what to do. It is not their place to belittle the very people whose employees they are."

I guess that it would seem like that sometimes. Among the few of us who survived combat, we have developed a certain distance from our fellow citizens.

Part of that comes from knowing what we experienced for our country and the developed appreciation for what freedom costs. Those costs have faces and families and remain with us forever.

Some of it comes from seeing other folks blissfully ignore the elevated price of being in war and even attack and/or trivialize the experiences of those of us who went through it. There is no experience quite like surviving war and having your fellow citizens spit on you or make cartoonish movies about you - and carry the enemy's flags and chant support to them.

So, yes, we do occasionally display resentment. It is not just a "government job"; it's a choice we made as young Americans to serve and fight and possibly give our lives for our country - completely distinct from being a cop or a fireman or an EMT.