For many Americans the terror and horror of war had merely been a philosophical exercise; a television report; a cocktail party distraction or an old military veteran's faulty imagination.

War has come to America.

For many veterans, the scenes of terror were unwelcome reminders of their own shocking experiences in Europe, Vietnam, Seoul, Iraq and numerous other battlegrounds. Veterans have long warned the nation that someday the horror of violent destruction would come to the homeland they had sacrificed to protect.

This tragic incident should be a wake up call for America as to the continued value of our military. Unfortunately the treatment of veterans tends to discourage young men and women from serving their country rather than encouraging them. Disabled veterans, in continuous misery because of their own sacrifices, could not by themselves, convince America that we live in a dangerous world.

Now we know.