World News: Thank a veteran today

Friday, November 11

Jane Murray served in the Women's Army Corps during World War II. She was listed on her discharge papers as a technician fifth grade, or T/5, a designation that was the equivalent of a corporal. Tech rankings went from 7 backward to 1, with 7 being a private, 6 being a private first class and 5 being a corporal.

Veterans Day honors those who served – including my mother

Thank a veteran today. Well, every day... but especially today.

My mother died decades before it was considered cool to have been a member of the "Greatest Generation," years before anyone coined that term, long before her World War II service garnered attention. By her death in 1978, there were still millions alive of the 16 million who served in that war.

About 400,000 women were among those who served in the World War II Army, Navy, Coast Guard or Marine Corps, Phyllis Wilson, president of the Military Women's Memorial in Arlington, Virginia, told me. Those women formed the first frail beginnings of what would become widespread acceptance of women in all spheres of life. Read more

More columns to catch up on

►Divisions are causing delays and deadlock on issues from nuclear disarmament to terrorism to global health. But I never bet against human ingenuity, and I have enormous faith in human solidarity.

►A co-founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund tells me it has played a pivotal role in the cultural shift America has made in separating the war from the warrior.

►My newfound Republican friends, here are your four unenviable options, none of them good.

►Voters turned the pruning shears on the Republican Party this week. It definitely wasn't what the GOP wanted – dreams of a red tsunami were dashed. But it was necessary.

Kyrie Irving and Kanye told ugly lies

Hey, did you hear the news about the Jews? We financed the transatlantic slave trade. We secretly worship Satan. Oh, and I almost forgot: We also control the mass media.

The rapper Ye, also known as Kanye West, was locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts. Spokespeople for Twitter and Instagram said Oct. 9, 2022, that Ye posted messages violating their policies.

Jacopo M. Raule/Getty Images

I say "we" because I'm Jewish. So you might guess that I was hurt by Brooklyn Nets basketball star Kyrie Irving, who tweeted support for a 2018 film – with the eye-catching title "Hebrews to Negroes" – that made all of these claims.

But you'd be wrong. Nor have I been harmed by Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, another famous purveyor of antisemitic nonsense.

To say that these click-bait buffoons hurt me gives them more credit – and, I fear, more credence – than they deserve. Read more.

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