It's been said that nobody hates war like an old soldier.

In a Washington Post column he wrote two years ago, author Sebastian Junger mentioned he was a guest on a national television show, and the host “expressed some indignation when I said that soldiers in Afghanistan don't much discuss the war they're fighting.”

The soldiers are mostly in their teens, Junger pointed out: why would we expect them to evaluate U.S. foreign policy?

So, what do old soldiers know that the younger ones don't want to talk about?

“Perhaps war is so obscene,” Junger wrote, “that even the people who supported it don't want to hear the details or acknowledge their role. Soldiers face myriad challenges when they return home, but one of the most destructive is the sense that their country doesn't quite realize that it — and not just the soldiers — went to war.”

The author's point is that the entire nation approved, financed and justified war, then sent the soldiers to fight it. This viewpoint puts the moral burden of war on the entire nation.

In recent years many veterans of World War II have told their personal stories. They are now in their 80s and 90s, and many die every day — this is the last opportunity many have to share their reflections and observations about the horrors they endured as well as the glorious victory they achieved collectively.

Some break into tears as they recall, 70 years later, their first encounter with death and horror on the battlefield. For many it's the first time they've divulged their private horrors to anyone.

We should be grateful that some choose not to take these secrets to the grave. As Junger wrote, we as a nation share in the good and bad consequences of war. And the veterans of battles in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan should be encouraged not to wait until their final years to talk about their experiences.

The disclosures should accomplish three things:

• They should deepened our appreciation and sense of debt for the sacrifices made by all service men and women.

• They should hasten the healing process for military personnel left emotionally injured by conflict.

• They should teach us to hate war as much as old soldiers do.

Our nation's defense forces must remain well equipped, well trained and prepared and the backbone of our diplomatic relations. But it also must remain as a last resort, to be used sparingly and reluctantly.

In a letter he penned in 1785, George Washington wrote: “My first wish is to see this plague to mankind banished from off the Earth, and the sons and daughters of this world employed in more pleasing and innocent amusements than in preparing implements and exercising them for the destruction of mankind.”

It's our national obligation to appreciate and salute our veterans, not only on Veterans Day but every day.