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talkpoliticsLast known WWI veteran Florence Green dies at 110
This is not only the end of an era...it is, to me, a reminder of just how short-sided people tend to be these days (perhaps we Americans especially). The Great War (World War I, the First World War, the War to End All Wars, or what have you), which began ninety-eight years ago, is now as remote in time to us as the Napoleonic Wars were to the people of 1914, although the events of the Great War still largely shape the modern world to this very day. To a large extent, the people and nations of 1914 had forgotten how truly evil and destructive full-scale war was, as recruits enthusiastically shipped out to the front that summer, wildly cheered by adoring crowds suffused with a sense of glory and adventure. And who, these days, outside of university history departments and the ranks of military buffs, even knows the basic history of the war, why it happened, and how it changed the world?
And now, we can see the very same thing happening to our people as happened to those of 1914, as our Second World War veterans age into their eighties and nineties. As we approach the 75th anniversary of that war's beginning, is it even arguable that the West, by and large, has forgotten just how horrible and desperate full-scale war is? Especially here in the United States, where our armed forces has been all-volunteer for more than a generation, for many people the military has become an unfamiliar, mysterious, and even sinister entity; in my own family, dating back three generations, there has been only a single person who served in the military. I was seriously thinking about enlisting, but by the time I was in high school it was obvious that my health would preclude it; I was later privileged to have a semester internship with the Naval Historical Center (now the Naval History and Heritage Command) in Washington, DC. It was my first time working and socializing with active-duty personnel, and I am thankful for the experience.
Our Congress sees fewer veterans in its ranks every session, the last veteran on the Supreme Court retired in 2010, and we haven't had a president who served on active duty since 1992. I am certainly not saying that military service should be required to hold public office, but I am saying that, as the military becomes further and further removed from the daily lives of our citizens, we continue to lose a personal connection with the men and women who serve and protect our freedom. For all of our flag-waving patriotism, most of us don't know, and will never know, what it is like to have a close friend or family member in harm's way.
I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank every member of![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
talk_politics who has served in the military of any nation. You are the protectors and guarantors of the freedom and liberty we take so very much for granted.
This is not only the end of an era...it is, to me, a reminder of just how short-sided people tend to be these days (perhaps we Americans especially). The Great War (World War I, the First World War, the War to End All Wars, or what have you), which began ninety-eight years ago, is now as remote in time to us as the Napoleonic Wars were to the people of 1914, although the events of the Great War still largely shape the modern world to this very day. To a large extent, the people and nations of 1914 had forgotten how truly evil and destructive full-scale war was, as recruits enthusiastically shipped out to the front that summer, wildly cheered by adoring crowds suffused with a sense of glory and adventure. And who, these days, outside of university history departments and the ranks of military buffs, even knows the basic history of the war, why it happened, and how it changed the world?
And now, we can see the very same thing happening to our people as happened to those of 1914, as our Second World War veterans age into their eighties and nineties. As we approach the 75th anniversary of that war's beginning, is it even arguable that the West, by and large, has forgotten just how horrible and desperate full-scale war is? Especially here in the United States, where our armed forces has been all-volunteer for more than a generation, for many people the military has become an unfamiliar, mysterious, and even sinister entity; in my own family, dating back three generations, there has been only a single person who served in the military. I was seriously thinking about enlisting, but by the time I was in high school it was obvious that my health would preclude it; I was later privileged to have a semester internship with the Naval Historical Center (now the Naval History and Heritage Command) in Washington, DC. It was my first time working and socializing with active-duty personnel, and I am thankful for the experience.
Our Congress sees fewer veterans in its ranks every session, the last veteran on the Supreme Court retired in 2010, and we haven't had a president who served on active duty since 1992. I am certainly not saying that military service should be required to hold public office, but I am saying that, as the military becomes further and further removed from the daily lives of our citizens, we continue to lose a personal connection with the men and women who serve and protect our freedom. For all of our flag-waving patriotism, most of us don't know, and will never know, what it is like to have a close friend or family member in harm's way.
I would therefore like to take this opportunity to thank every member of
talk_politics who has served in the military of any nation. You are the protectors and guarantors of the freedom and liberty we take so very much for granted.
(no subject)
Date: 8/2/12 19:47 (UTC)As it pertains to the OP, I don't give a flying fuck about your bone to pick with Iraq. They serve, period. They offer themselves for your right to say they were wrong-all-wrong in the country of your choice, without question, whether they think you are right or not.
Would that others could bring themselves to do the same for them.
(no subject)
Date: 8/2/12 20:28 (UTC)I strongly disagree with this. Martin Luther King wasn't in the military, for example.
Military service does not grant any special insight into anything, other than military service. Just like my IT work grants me special insight into IT work, but has fuck all to do with politics.
(no subject)
Date: 8/2/12 21:24 (UTC)You can quit your IT job on a dime, tell your boss where he can go, and engage in the political speech of your choice, without losing your freedom. You go into your job knowing what it will entail, and can walk out at any time. You will not be asked to take a bullet, or scrub a squeaky clean floor for several days with a toothbrush without the ability to say "no" or land in the brig.
Here, willingly stand between me and an armed terrorist for your paycheck on Friday. Go ahead.
(no subject)
Date: 8/2/12 23:15 (UTC)Being the military is a job. It has different risks, different levels of achievement, different issues, but it's a job nonetheless. I was born in 1970, and there has never been a shot fired to protect my rights militarily. There's never been a need.
(no subject)
Date: 8/2/12 23:42 (UTC)You willingly give up your right to public free speech, to freedom of movement, to freedom from what most people in normal jobs would consider as abusive treatment from their superiors. You give them your life and oftentimes the lives of your immediate family, not just 8 hours a day five days a week, with two weeks vacation. What you do in the military may be "just a job" for a lot of people, but being in the military is so different from civilian life that people like you and me can't comprehend it.
You look at the group action, determined by politicians and bureaucrats. I look at the individual soldier, placed where those politicians determine. I see their lives and their sacrifices. We're talking apples and oranges here.
Choosing to be in the military is NOT the same as choosing to work at McDonald's, or joining the Peace Corps, or working with Planned Parenthood or General Motors.
"I was born in 1970, and there has never been a shot fired to protect my rights militarily. There's never been a need."
If you can't answer the question "Why has there never been an actual need?" then I can't help you.
(no subject)
Date: 9/2/12 02:53 (UTC)If you can't answer the question "Why has there never been an actual need?" then I can't help you.
Sure I can. America's technological military might, and an unquestioning willingness to use it for the most artificial of inducements. But no american soldier has fought for american freedom since WWII.
(no subject)
Date: 10/2/12 12:50 (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 10/2/12 12:51 (UTC)