For the second consecutive year, all Americans are being asked to express their respect to veterans simply by displaying one green light in the front of their homes.
Whether in a porch light outlet or window, the light should be illuminated the four nights before Veterans Day: Tuesday, Nov. 7 through Friday, Nov. 10, according to a resolution unanimously approved by the Bartholomew County Commissioners. The purpose of what’s known as “Operation Green Light” is to let veterans know they are seen, appreciated and supported, organizers said.
In Columbus, local government will mark the observance by illuminating the Bartholomew County Courthouse in green light at night, as well as displaying the same color on the Robert N. Stewart Bridge, the resolution states. Green was chosen because it is the color of hope, renewal and well-being, as well as a term commonly used to activate forward movement, organizers said.
While veterans will be honored at many venues on Nov. 11, Operation Green Light is also intended to raise awareness about the unique challenges faced by many veterans, their spouses, their children and the resources available for them at the county, state, and federal level to assist them.
“The families sometimes suffer more than the veterans do,” said retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Mark Pillar of Columbus. “They share the burdens, although they aren’t always the same.”
Little can be done to prevent military families from suffering a degree of anxiety, Pillar said. For example, when he was flying in Operation Desert Storm, he said he was only allowed to call his wife, Linda, once a week to assure her he was all right. While Pillar was stationed in Guam, he felt helpless after learning his wife was stuck for four days in a house buried by 34 inches of snow, he said.
But when you get out of the military, things don’t necessarily go smoothly. Studies indicate as many as 72% of service members experience high levels of stress during the transition from military to civilian life.
While the conflict in Korea (1950-1953) is often called the forgotten war, veterans who are often overlooked are those who served during the Cold War (1947-1991), Pillar said.
“They served the same as the rest of us did,” Pillar said. “They didn’t leave the United States, but they were protecting our country.”
In recent years, the biggest change in the military is in regard to gender. According to 2022 figures from the U.S. Department of Defense, 27.4% of U.S. military members are female.
For both men and women discharged after serving in a combat zone, it is important that they receive the assistance they need for medical and psychological treatment, Bartholomew County Veterans Events Planning Committee member Zach Ellison said.
Those who are sent into a combat zone are too often exposed to witnessing extremely terrible things, Ellison said.
”Things that they can’t get out of their minds,” said Ellison, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Vietnam. “That is what leads to post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Ellison recalls that in Vietnam, he and others only had to serve one tour of duty in a combat zone. But while tours are a bit shorter now, a member of the armed forces could be ordered to serve multiple tours.
“This means they face the difficulty of being torn apart (from spouse and family), brought back together, and then being torn apart (multiple times),” Ellison said.
Ellison says many veterans he’s talked with say these ongoing transitions are a source of continued turbulence in their lives.
Military couples have other problems. Spouses often have difficulty finding a stable job because employers know the military may force the worker to move if the military stations their spouse at another location.
Whether it’s a wife or husband in the military, the situation often creates financial instability back home.
Operation Green Light is spearheaded by the National Association of Counties and the National Association of County Veteran Service Officers.
Help for veterans
When local, state and federal government offers assistance to veterans, they are not being provided benefits.
Retired U.S. Air Force General Mark Pillar says they are receiving what they have earned by doing what was necessary when their country needed their services.
“These are entitlements,” Pillar said. “They’ve earned them.”
More information on services available to former armed services members can be obtained by contacting:
Bartholomew County Veteran Services
440 Third St., Columbus.
Phone: 812-379-1540
Hours: Weekdays from 8 a.m. until noon, and 1 to 5 p.m.
