What “sane” person wants war! What “sane” person doesn’t want protection! What “sane” person doesn’t want someone else to do the work? “I grant you the authority to protect me, while I pursue …” ok, you get the picture.
The Draft, and the widening schism that defined Vietnam’s extremes continues its expansion.
One consequence of my one-year’s combat experience in Vietnam is that, with rare exception, I lost and never regained solid connection with either high school or college classmates and friends who were neither drafted nor who elected to enlist. Commonality no longer existed. In the subsequent aftermath, each group suffered–and suffers–missed opportunity for understanding and friendship.
With the all-volunteer armed services, the probability of a wider split in mindset between those who serve in America’s armed forces and those who do not will likely escalate. Our inability (or lack of will) to better educate non-serving civilians about the hardships, sacrifices, and post-war effects on veterans widens the gap.
Like a disconnected swinging drawbridge, the more connection lost, the further each segment detaches from the other, making it ever more difficult to reconnect. The machinery rusts.
America hasn’t “won” a war since Korea, and even that can be considered a stalemate. Since then, we’ve abandoned Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan.Think this isn’t a ball-buster for morale!
Thus, will the incentive to voluntarily enlist continue to degrade under the current environment? Deterred by the risk of more lost or abandoned wars–citing the mantra “What The Hell Was This Fight For” –fewer and fewer Americans may serve willingly …
… which could lead to an interesting paradox. Due to the increasing reluctance to serve, Americans could face increasing militarization (restrictions and loss of freedoms) within the United States.
And ISIS sits on our doorstep.
The conundrum plaguing our current political and military leadership is pathetic. Talk about disconnect. Each side disdains the other, although the political realm displays the greater disdain, which is absurd because the significant majority of politicos have never tasted dirt, never had their “beliefs” challenged under the threat of death.
The inability of political and military leaders to establish solid connection and understanding places Americans in more vulnerable positions. Our constitution and the Judaic/Christian beliefs upon which this country was founded are under attack, from both within our borders and beyond our borders.
And ISIS sits on our doorstep.
How about we have politicians not only make field visits but also accompany combat patrols. Let’s have military commanders stop covering up and realistically assess the current combat status. Let’s add required school curriculum that informs all students as to the sacrifices soldiers make on land, on sea, and in the air–with a special section on post-war effects to body and mind.
And let’s all serve our country in some capacity … not to make war, but as a deterrent to war.
If this swinging bridge doesn’t reconnect, our democracy could plunge seaward.