The American Thinker published a scathing Veterans Day editorial contrasting the sacrifices of military veterans with what it describes as the entitled demands of modern leftist movements. Authored by J.B. Shurk, the piece uses Ernest Hemingway’s wartime wisdom as a framing device to explore the fundamental differences between those who serve and those who demand.
The Weight of a Single Day
Shurk opens by quoting Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls to underscore how combat veterans understand the gravity of daily decisions when facing mortality. The editorial argues that all military personnel — whether frontline fighters or support staff — bear this existential burden, knowing their daily choices ripple through history.
What Hollywood Gets Wrong
The article critiques how popular culture sanitizes war by focusing on heroic narratives while ignoring the deeper costs: parents who will never hold their children again, potential families that will never exist, and soulmates who will never meet. This avoidance, Shurk suggests, has allowed younger generations to grow up ignorant of true sacrifice.
The Rise of the ‘Me’ Generations
Turning sharply critical, the piece contrasts veterans’ ethos with modern activist movements like Antifa and Black Lives Matter, accusing them of entitlement and historical ignorance. ”When I see Antifa scum defacing statues… I see the most entitled people on planet,” Shurk writes, framing this as a consequence of educational systems that reject meritocracy and national pride.
A Warning About Globalism
The editorial crescendos with a conspiratorial warning about globalist elites attempting to dismantle national sovereignty. It positions veterans as the antithesis to this agenda — people who fought for tangible freedoms rather than abstract global governance — and calls on them to educate younger generations before it’s too late.
The article’s polemical tone reflects the American Thinker’s conservative perspective, using Veterans Day as a springboard to critique perceived cultural decay rather than focusing exclusively on military appreciation. Its inflammatory language about activist groups and sweeping generational condemnations ensure it will provoke strong reactions across the political spectrum.
Source: www.americanthinker.com — https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2026/11/thank-you-veterans/