(DrBubbaLove;33158)
What would be the point and how effective would a nation's military be if every soldier was allowed to say (and decide that) I don't want to be here now or be doing this now?War is hell, should not be necessary, is bad and the cry for blood by someone never experienced in it is of less force. It doesn't follow that such a cry is necessarily false or misguided. None of those statements address the responsibility of a person who has agreed to be a soldier or even one pressed into that service. Nor does it suggest that a country should not be able to call on citizens to be soldiers. Whether the citizen agrees with the cause is irrelevant to the power a nation should have to call on citizens to fight. It is part of what being a citizen of that country means, just as being able to voice one's opinion is a proper right in this country.Go into any VFW (for help finding it for some of you, that would be the building with that red, white, blue flag with stars on it and a black one flying underneath it) and you may well find some bitter, disillusioned individuals. You will certainly find disagreement in politics and leadership. But you will also find not a few that would kick the *** of any soldier whining about having to do what soldiers have to do, especially during happy hour. You will find as well, many very proud of their service and the service of ALL current active duty members, even if they disagreed with the politics. And you will find people that served in not just one war, but many wars. People that flew combat missions and did multiple combat tours in three wars when they could have stopped at one combat tour. People that volunteered to fly long after the military told them they did not have to go on those missions any more. Those same men will also say war is hell, ugly and they were/are not eager to do it again. They may even express doubts about the reasons the nation was there or the purpose of a particular mission. But those same men felt a responsibility as a citizen first and as soldier to do what soldiers do. And every single one of them had many moments during that time where they said "I don't want to be here.", even tearful heartfelt longings to be somewhere else. Whether they agreed with the politics of their particular war or not, most of those men don't like talking about it. Certainly not as much as those who are bitter about their service. Which suggests to me a different cause for both the bitterness and being disillusion as well as the public expression of it.A soldier is not free to express his opinions. For keeping simple discipline in any military ranks, an active soldier is not as free as Joe citizen to do so. You cannot effectively lead a military allowing every malcontent to freely voice an opinion. Being able to find a soldier or a former one that will trash Bush, the country or our being in Iraq now, does not mean he or she speaks for all soldiers.
We are talking about veterans who have done their duty, kept their opinions to themselves, and waited until they were discharged in order to voice them.Nuremburg has established that blind obedience to orders is not a valid excuse. When Germany re unified, two border guards were sentenced two ten years for "Doing their duty" By enforcing the laws of East Germany and shooting the last to die trying to escape.As far as the VFW is concerned, I refused to join it after serving 26 years because they reminded me too much of the character Bruch Springsteen sang about in his song "Glory days" I am not about to join those old farts boasting about "Back in my day!". My wife has standing orders to put me out of my misery if I ever am caught wearing one of those veterans hats.As a veteran, I refuse to cower behind the military while talking tough against other nations. As a citizen, it is my duty to question the cause.
