(AFP/File/Mauricio Lima) | The above was the title of a recent article I read. It was followed by one that outlined the various ways the military is trying to seduce youngsters into "joining up"-no big news as we all know.
The military is missing its recruiting goals. They're lowering standards, accepting older enlistees, and chasing the Pacific Islanders trying to recruit just about any warm body. Pretty pathetic when you think about it.
For over a year, I've had a blog about not just reinstating the draft but initiating a universal type service. I've called the blog, AllServe. Mostly it's articles I've written and articles written by a few others having to do with how utterly immoral, in a democratic society, it is for other people's children to fight our wars. It is the worst case of NIMBYISM (not in my back yard) that I can possibly imagine.
One of the many other articles I have written for the airborne press website include one about McNamara's 100,000
(see Moron Corps). During Vietnam(1966), this was a program devised by Robert McNamara, then secretary of defense, to recruit soldiers from the ranks of those who would had preciously been rejected by the military. Recruiters went through the rural south and through poor urban areas to meet their goals. One recruit had an IQ of 62.
These were a group of soldiers that had failed the various tests to get into the Army, mainly the mental portions. My take on the military often is that they could screw up a two car funeral procession. However, to just think that these educable mentally-challenged soldiers were all bad is simply inaccurate.
McNamara's 100,000
I had a McNamara 100,000 in my unit in Vietnam who was dumb, in a sense, but smart like a fox and the best and most courageous soldier I've ever known. Once when he was awarded his 4th silver star, 3rd highest award for valor, he didn't want it. He said first of all, "He didn't deserve it;" and, secondly, it was not the color he wanted. What! Medal wrong color? Stupid to everyone but him. He wanted an Army Commendation Medal; it was green and the lowest ranking of the medals, but it matched the color scheme he wanted. Dumb, sure; but, in a firefight, he is the guy you wanted- a savvy soldier that saved many lives. This is the whole story. Want another one?
I was in the 101st Airborne Division in Nam and we had a somewhat macabre thing we did. When an American soldier killed an enemy soldier; and, it was verified by a witness, he was given a small coin called a "brave eagle." They were cherished among the troops. There weren't many of them. After I left Vietnam, I had one to deliver to one of McNamara's Moron Corps. (By the way who gave them the name Moron Corps? I don't know nor do any of my war buddies.)
I went into the Appalachian region of North Carolina to find this guy. When I got there, he was sitting on his porch with no legs and one arm, smoking and drinking a beer. He was happy to see me and called me, "Chappie,"(chaplain) a term of endearment. I gave him his "brave eagle" and he was so thrilled. I was moved to tears looking at him and said something like, "Sorry." He made a statement I've never forgotten; it was something like this: "Preacher, I'm glad I went to Vietnam. I'm not a whole man, but I've got me a government pension, the Va gives me anything I want, and I can give my folks more than I ever could if I hadn't gone." Nothing else for me to say. That's the real story.
Pentagon Needs Constructive Criticism
And, I understand the badmouthing of the military. I am a bigtime badmouther because the Pentagon needs it. I try to be relatively constructive, but think that Rumsfeld, in any other job, would have been fired long ago. The Iraq war has been mismanaged in colossal ways. I've taken to calling it Iraqnam. We could not have screwed up Iraq better if we had had a carefully worked out plan.
Where we go wrong is rejecting the draft out of hand. If we had the shared sacrifice of a universal "AllServe" in our country, the President would be reluctant to send us off to war so quickly. And, the peace groups would do well to get on board with that concept. If the peace activists would only join up with those who want the draft restored or something similar like I am proposing, no telling what could be accomplished.
Shared Sacrifice
Naturally youngsters in the 18-26 age bracket don't want the draft or anything similar. They don't even vote! However, maybe we don't know how they would react; given the options, we might be surprised. Think about it: what would some sort of shared sacrifice mean? What if a youngster knew that he or she was going to have to give two years of his or her life to the military, the Peace Corps, or Teach America and couldn't get out of it? We'd have shared sacrifice; and, to be honest, I have great faith in many of our kids that they will follow through. How will we know without trying?
There was a time in our country when you could go into any bar or Church and someone would want to tell you about their military experience: When I was in the Army, we didn't even have many in Congress, maybe a handful, with military experience. And, surely none of their children.
Think of the scene from Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 911, when he is trying to give the Congressman some papers to give to his children on joining the military. It was embarrassing sitting in the theater because you realized how messed up Iraq was: Americans dying in a war where they were sent by a Congress who had no personal investment in the decision-hypocrisy to the max.
The Military Has Redeeming Qualities
Despite the military and the Pentagon's capacity to screw things up, it still doesn't mean the military itself is a bad deal for everybody. When I was in Korea last, 86/87, at Camp Red Cloud, there were five African American Sergeant Majors, the highest enlisted rank, at our little camp. Three of them were female. They were all great and every one of them had stories to tell about how much they owed the military. Their experiences are not isolated but told over and over.
AllServe is the only answer. Do I expect it to happen? No, not really, not as long as we are content to allow other people's children to fight our wars. It is morally wrong and there's no amount of spin or debate that can make it right. JA
Related Articles:
KT's Arguments for Universal Service
March 12 05: Guard In Turmoil
Highlight: Military Recruitment
ROTC: A Military Option?
The All Volunteer Army Is un-AMERICAN
A Look Back: Special Operations: Warriors Of The Future
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