I honestly fail to see what all of the "hoopla" is about where currently serving or recently retired CF members are concerned. I may be way off-base here, but to me the Veteran's license plate is all about recognizing and deferring to those who served on active duty on combat operations in the interests of our nation. In that context, I would personally draw the "current" line at those who served in the Korean War - Army, Navy or Airforce. What does the license plate mean, if it doesn't confer some sort of deferential treatment upon the bearer? If I see a Veteran's license plate in front of me, then I am inclined to hang back and give the bearer the "first move" traffic-wise. If I see a Veteran's plate in the parking lot, then I am inclined to concede the primo parking spot to the bearer. And so it goes....
This business of currently-serving CF members whinging about their "right" to have a special license plate gives me serious cause to question their motivations. It smacks of self-serving clap-trap. Does a 3 year Basic Engagement in the Regular Force where the member does nothing more than flip eggs in a Service Battalion deserve special recognition? What about the guy (or gal) who serves 20 years of Thursday nights and a weekend per month in the Primary Reserves without ever leaving their home town? Just what is it that makes them somehow special and deserving of public recognition?
I don't presume to know what the ideal criteria for "Veteran" license plates should be, but I do know that the current parameters are so all-inclusive that the plates themselves are meaningless. Much like the title "veteran" itself - now expanded for politically-correct reasons to include just about anyone who ever donned a CF uniform. Give me a break - for the vast majority of us it is/was simply a job with some additional "structure". Genuine hardship and sacrifice are concepts quite foreign to most who have rendered Canadian military service in recent years, And yet we are all "Veterans". Veterans of what? Of having to show up for work on time? Of having to cut our hair a certain way? Of having been told what to do during working hours? Ooohhh - now there are some worthy grounds for a "special" license plate.
Seriously folks - just what the heck have most of us done to deserve a "special" license plate on par with our countrymen and women who truly put it on the line during the Korean War, in the Medak Pocket, or elsewhere?
I walk through the J-7 parking lot at CFB Gagetown every morning, and I see roughly every 10th car with "Veteran" license plates. And do you know what my "gut" response is? Derision. Based on a class of people who are evidently looking for some sort of misplaced validation as a result of what they have elected to do for a living. Quite frankly, I find the entire subject to be quite pathetic. If your self-esteem is rooted in having a special license plate that is so generic as to be entirely meaningless, then you have some serious issues....
By all official criteria, I am entitled to a "Veteran" license plate. 26 years of Reserve and Regular Army infantry service, including officially-sanctioned combat operations. But at 40 years old you wouldn't catch me dead with such a plate. Why? Because to me the "Veteran" plate says "been there, done that, rendered service to the nation, and am now old and feeble to the point that you should give me a break". I am not quite there yet.
When I see a 30 year-old step out of a car bearing "Veteran" plates, I automatically think "pathetic wannabe". To me, it is a shamefull expression of inadequacy. Everyone wants to be proud of what they do for a living (or a hobby), and that is cool. That is why they make "Army" stickers for your car window or bumper. As for the license plates? I say leave those to the truly retired who have done their bit. Exact criteria to be determined, but certainly more rigid than it is now. Limiting the license plates to someone who made a full or part-time career of the military for a minimum of 10 years would be a good first step in my opinion. Furthermore, the plates SHOULD only be available to those who have left military service. How the heck can you be a "veteran/ancienne combattant" if you are STILL SERVING?!?!?!
I say make the plates mean something. As it stands right now, they are absolutely meaningless. You may as well put a CF sticker on your bumper for all the distinction that it affords.
Just my $.02 as a "Veteran in waiting".....
:sniper:
