No American should be required to devote their last full measure of devotion for their country. Yet no American should shirk that responsibility.
I came of age in the era of Kent State 1970. I hit my first year as a teenager just after Nixon sabotaged the 1968 Peace Talks insuring thousands more American families would mourn over senseless, needless deaths. I had my first understanding of empathy watching John John saluting his father’s casket after Kennedy refused to get us involved in Vietnam and was assassinated. Some believe it was conspiracy led by our own CIA.
I was raised by a man who served in WWII. He was a top executive for a Fortune 500 Company before going out on his own. Any chance he had he would hire a Vet, and though he shamed a few, he never fired any man. He knew all of these men had been willing to share a foxhole with him. He knew these men had his back, were willing to leave their loved ones behind, to fight and die for his freedom.
In truth, the Civil War, WWI, Vietnam, and Afghanistan were no different. As Joshua Chamberlain said at Gettysburg: “We are out to set other men free.”
WWI was nothing more than a concoction developed by dictators to maintain control. The two primary combatants at the beginning of WWI had played in playpens together, the grandsons of the Queen of England. Our Victory in WWI turned Germany into a Democracy that failed because the USA was not able to influence the outcome at the Treaty of Versailles. This insured economic conditions in which dictators could thrive.
Vietnam was an effort by a people to control their own destiny. Nguyen Ai Quac, later known as Ho Chi Minh pled his case at the Treaty of Versailles. But again, the French insisted in having their way: Insuring another bloody war where the USA would once again try to save them. But this time we were on the wrong side of history. The USA sought to prevent a people from exercising their own free will, determining their own future.
Afghanistan again created a freedom we have seen lost. Not lost by our soldiers who completed their mission, but by a politician who negotiated with terrorists. The folks at home also grew weary of supporting the troops engaged in a country unwilling to fight for its own freedom.
All of these wars with the exception of Afghanistan were fought by men: Many who volunteered to fulfill their responsibility, yet many others were conscripted.
No American should be required to devote their last full measure of devotion for their country. Yet no American should shirk that responsibility: A classic quagmire.
Yesterday, Memorial Day, I spent time talking with a Veteran. While I grew up in the sixties witnessing corruption and malfeasance, he came of age as 9/11 occurred. He watched innocent Americans killed by a foreign enemy. I watched Americans be led into battle by a government that placed profits and political power above the love of their fellow man.
We couldn’t be more different in our experiences, yet we both love our country. He served and I did not. I was and am grateful for the service of others.
Should I have served? Moot question. I turned 18 in 1974. The last combat troops in Vietnam came home in 1973. And yes, the war did not deserve my support, but the men who fought and believed in their country always had my support and respect. I never spat at or ridiculed a Vet. Richard Nixon was the largest mass murderer in American history. Because of this, I soured on the military I had totally expected to serve in while growing up. Question Authority.
Today our country is divided as it has not been since the 1960s that I know so well, value and honor so much, and wish had never happened. The secret to ending this division is bringing back the draft, requiring everyone to serve in some capacity. When a politician decides, they must know the decision they make will affect someone who could have, would have jumped in a fox hole with them. Politicians must know they make decisions for people who had their back, who left their loved ones, were willing to die, for their freedom.
We live today in a United States, divided, without liberty and justice for all. To repair the torn fabric of this nation we must all serve, even the sons and daughters of presidents. Yes: Even the future Trumps must serve.