This morning, my Best Reader and my Perfect Non-Reader and I all went to our small-town Memorial Day observation. We cheered for our veterans as they marched (some of them marching very neatly, others staggering a bit with age, others riding comfortably in vintage automobiles), and also cheered for our local VFD and our scouts. As the last of the scouts came by, and I cheered for the Eagle-to-be who had played the Chevalier Danceny in the recent production of which you all have heard, I realized that for the first time since I was myself of the age of service, I knew people who might well be drafted, or might even join of their own volition. After all, he’s an Eagle scout, which shows a certain ... well, I don’t actually know, but once upon a time, the point of having boy Scouts was that they would grow up to be man Scouts, right? And it isn’t that much of a stretch to imagine this strapping young fellow in a year or two, scouting for his troop.
My reaction was grief, instant and strong. I know, it’s because it’s Memorial Day. We watched them lay the wreaths, and listened to them blow Taps, and if Your Humble Blogger didn’t actually weep, well, it was a near thing. Naturally, under the circs, I was focused on death and grieving. If this lad does join, and of course the odds are he won’t, or at least if he does, that he will join ROTC or go to an academy, which gives him a few more years before seeing combat, and surely we won’t still be fighting in the streets of Baghdad in 2010, yes? Oh, Lord.
As I was saying, even if this lad joins up right out of high school and goes for a soldier, the odds are that he will come home walking. Yes, it’s dangerous, and there are many who don’t, but it’s not a death sentence. Still. I saw him walk by in his dorky little Scout uni, and I just wanted to stand between him and the recruiter (who would be carrying a scythe, in this image).
And even aside from the bogus risk analysis, that’s a deeply wrong instinct. Well, no, it isn’t entirely, as I would like to maintain an instinct that says that nobody should go fight, but in the world as it is, we have a military, and boys (and girls) will go fight, and it’s deeply wrong of me to want to insulate myself and everyone I know from that. If this guy and his classmates want to join up, well, honestly, that’s something I should honor and admire, as I honor and admire the old men and the women who made that choice, and who were marching today, and those at whose graves the wreaths were laid as well. And I do. And I shouldn’t stand between those boys and their recruiter.
And yet, here it is: I hope somebody does. I hope for every one of those graves, and for every one of those veterans, there was somebody who wanted to stand between them and the recruiter, somebody who had to overcome that protectiveness. Somebody who had to force himself to remember to honor and admire the choice, and to respect it. And this Memorial Day, I’ll remember those mothers and fathers and uncles and acquaintances as well.
chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek,
-Vardibidian.
If you knew (more) people in the military, do you think you would you be less hawkish? Perhaps somewhat, but in the division of the world into hawks and doves, you’re firmly in the doves roost.
Let those who cheer for war send more of their loved ones to die and kill. Let those who lead us send more of their loved ones into harm’s way. Let those who report and write and edit and anchor and publish the news send more of their loved ones. And when they do, and when they understand the consequences of what they do, then send for the bugler and the flag and stand ready to share in sacrifice.
But this occupation would not continue today if our military were truly volunteer, and it would not continue today with an honest draft, and every less recruit is a step towards our soldiers coming home.
Honor and admire those who choose and chose to serve. But speak from your conscience and your heart when you have the chance, because many of those who suffered and died in service to this nation did so in order to protect your freedom to do so.
There are a lot of bad reasons why people choose to join the military. If I admit the necessity of having a military, that would make it hypocritical of me to want to keep the people I care about out of it, especially if I just want to keep them out so they don’t get hurt. But it’s appropriate of me to prevent people I care about from making what I see as bad decisions; if I think they’ve been inappropriately influenced by recruitment marketing or by machismo or by a sense of poverty-induced lack of opportunity, I certainly will try to prevent them from enlisting.
And there’s another piece of the risk analysis. There are risks to being in combat besides being hurt or killed. Some of the people who’ve been most damaged by the current conflict in Iraq have been young G.I’s who have had to machine-gun cars full of families with children because the driver was acting oddly and might be a threat. I couldn’t recover from that. I won’t let my son be put in a position like that if I can help it.
Lastly, even if one believes that we need to have a military, it’s legitimate to say that it’s wrong to join this military because the people deploying it are incompetent and dishonest. I have tremendous respect (and some pity) for the people who had already joined the military and who honored their oath. But to join now is a gesture of support for the administration. I don’t respect that.
It’s dangerous to have a military that cares too deeply who its civilian leadership is. Obviously some leaders and some causes inspire service better than others, but people should join to serve the country, not leaders or causes. Otherwise we cannot maintain civilian control over our military as causes and leaders change.
As to the question of hypocrisy, I’d say it’s far worse to encourage others to serve while refusing to serve oneself than it is to wish for the safety of those close to you while hoping others further away will make a different choice.
people should join to serve the country, not leaders or causes. Otherwise we cannot maintain civilian control over our military as causes and leaders change.
But what should a soldier do when the leader of the country begins a war to settle old grudges and serve personal/corporate ambitions? When the leader uses the military in a way that obviously betrays national interests, how can that be ignored by those in military service?
Of course, the military should have been able to depend upon the Congress and the American people not to permit the armed forces of the nation to be so misused.
But they didn’t. Since this war has been pretty obviously a criminal action from the beginning, cloaked with only the merest pretense of legality under international law, what is a soldier who wants to serve his or her country but not commit war crimes to do?
It’s hard, after being trained to take orders and to serve to disobey orders, face considerable legal penalties, and refuse to continue to serve.
I do not admit the present necessity of a military, at least not of a military on anything like the scale of our current one. I respect the desire to serve the country that motivates some to enlist, and I pity those who have become trapped in this military for other reasons, but I would discourage anyone from entering military service.
what is a soldier who wants to serve his or her country but not commit war crimes to do?
In practice, a soldier who is given an illegal order is damned if they follow it and damned if they refuse. In theory, a soldier is supposed to refuse. In a better world, conscientious objector status would be more accessible and less binary.
The soldier who is ordered to shoot a civilian should refuse. But the soldier who is awaiting deployment and the citizen who is paying taxes and the parent of the soldier all have the same duty in the face of an illegal and immoral war. And we are all failing in that duty. You ask what a soldier should do, but that question applies to you and me as well as citizens of this country.
In a democracy, the obligation is to vote. In a society, the obligation is to speak up. In a community, the obligation is to help your neighbor. For those who look around and see neither a healthy democracy nor a healthy society nor a healthy community, I don’t know what the obligations are in the face of an illegal and immoral war.