| Modern Day Soldiering Among a Disinterested Public by Kelly Thomas
|  Sitting in a modern day airport is a great place to people watch. For me, it is very poignant these days because there are always a few soldiers sitting and waiting. This is quite a big change from soldiering during Vietnam.
For one thing, in the latter days of Vietnam, we were not allowed to travel in uniform, less someone discover we were soldiers. In the early days of the war, when soldiers returned from the Nam, they were proud. Regardless of what anyone else thought, they had been serving their country. The traveling uniform was khakis and bright colored badges and hero medals—Proud Soldiers! But, it didn't take long for that to go the way of the Edsel; soon came the protests, the spitting incidents, and the Vietnam soldier being blamed for the war. Quit wearing the uniform stupid!
At least now, the soldier is mostly ignored. In the airport, in public, in their desert BDUs (battle dress uniforms) they are sticking out, but ignored. In the old days, we would never have worn our jungle fatigues in public under any circumstances: it was a work uniform. But, even though different, I think soldiers wearing their desert uniform is a good thing. The public should be reminded that we are at war. Unfortunately, most are not effected and most don't consider we are at war. Those people sitting in the airport with these soldiers-their lives are the same.
I watched this young couple for about an hour off and on. Her eyes were swollen from crying. I thought: what is their story? How are their finances? Do they live in government housing? What sort of support will she have while her husband is off at war? If he is killed, what about her protection for the future? The questions are endless. They had a small child. She will be without her daddy for a year, maybe forever. It is war.
Combat soldiers, in particular, are trained for war, it is what they do. But, the families have to endure the separation -those times when Daddy or Mommy are gone from special events: birthdays, school plays, the various crises.
These are unbelievably sacrificial times. Hard, hard times. And, the general public doesn't appreciate it enough, mainly, I hope, because they don't understand it. Very few in the public have served in the military, it's not even an option they considered. I think that many in our culture have some pride in knowing that their grandfathers and great grandfathers served, but it is something that is foreign to most. This is indeed very, very sad for our culture.
God bless our soldiers and their families.
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| Isolation and The Volunteer Troops Fighting Overseas Coming Home
|  Recently, I was in an airport and there were scores of soldiers in their desert uniforms, moving around, talking on phones, generally ubiquitous.
I spent a lot of time observing them. Nobody paid any attention and it underscored a certain point: the absolute unadulterated isolation of the military from the rest of society. Sure, there are those rare times when you hear these great stories of people in planes applauding the troops and giving up their seats.
Great, but these few random acts of kindness hardly do much for the fact that we are not a country at war, but we have a military at war. In a sense, we have mercenaries that fight for us. To me it is appalling! Recently, I was complaining to a friend about my frustration with the "business as usual" attitude of most Americans.
Sure, we see Iraq: it is one item among many on the news, but we are not really effected; there are no sacrifices. So, what do I want us to do? I want us to be upset about Iraq. It is an unpopular war, but we are in it and we need to wake up and smell the roses; it should not be business as usual.
Why is it business as usual? Easy! We are a country where the vast majority do not serve and a very small minority do. The shared sacrifice of WW II is a distant memory. During WW II, 6% of Americans were in uniform. Today, from the sacred halls of the Pentagon comes the word that four tenths of 1 percent wear their country's uniform.
Oh, we may go and see a movie like "We Were Soldiers Once" and be moved by wives experiencing a chaplain informing a wife and children the husband didn't make it; but it is distant, quickly forgotten; or, we may see some newspaper article as I did recently that moved me to tears about women in combat who lost limbs and were disfigured. But, more likely than not, those of us who are moved are in the single digits.
Smugged that I care? Hardly; and, if there were enough of us, I would gladly like to feel smug about my caring. However, simply stated, we are detached from our military.
I will grant the public that the military is not scorned like my generation of Vietnam vets, many who still deal with the rejection. Today's soldiers may at least tacitly be honored. I'm not totally convinced they are; but, to really honor them, they should be paid more and assured of a future once they leave the military; or, at least as much as a greatful people can give them. But, to me the telling fact, is that as much as we say we are honoring our soldiers, parents are not encouraging their children to join up. Quite the contrary, they are often doing all they can to keep them from signing up._____KT |
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The public should be reminded that we are at war, even if it is only by a young trooper sitting in an airport in his battle dress uniform.
FAMILIES ARE THE ONES WHO REALLY SUFFER | |
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Yeah, this movie is different, to put it mildly, but somehow it manages to hold your attention.