Misdirected anger about war placed on recruiters, troops
Misdirected anger about war placed on recruiters, troops
Donna Teresa Homefront Journal
Article Last Updated: 03/25/2008 01:40:31 AM PDT
Calvin Coolidge once said that "the nation that forgets its defenders will itself be forgotten."
His comment holds true today as this war continues. The upcoming presidential election and other miscellaneous news have consumed America, while our men and women in uniform are still in Afghanistan and Iraq.
While people have fixated on their televisions, did anyone notice that people continue to lose their lives in this war? Instead, people have been anticipating the next insult these presidential candidates will say to offend each other.
I'm still waiting to hear about new ideas and solutions they will bring to this country if elected president. On the other hand, I have heard this political fight between the candidates has become welcome entertainment instead of hearing about the weary condition our country is in right now. So this is what America is becoming — how very sad if that is the case.
Misdirected anger about the war continues to be placed on military recruiters and our men and women in uniform. These thoughts should be directed to those who create the war policy in America.
After previously asking for the Marine recruiters to leave their city after numerous protests were waged by anti-war groups, the Berkeley City Council eventually softened its stance on the Marine recruiting station after it was threatened with federal funding being removed. In February, the mayor of Toledo, Ohio, ordered Marines out of the city before their planned warfare
training, because he said the Marines frightened people.
I can think of other things that would frighten me more than a Marine. Many Americans stood by the mayor's stance and many did not. This continues to be a clear indication of the ongoing resentment of the war. The only problem is this hatred of the war continues to be directed toward our military for a war they did not create.
Has anybody paid attention to those who profit from war? It certainly isn't the Marines or the rest of our Armed Forces getting rich from this conflict and they certainly didn't sign the declaration to go to war. Many are getting rewarded instead with loss of life, longer deployments, long family separations, PTSD, loss of limbs, homelessness, losing their jobs or businesses, divorce, limited money for college education, and for some, a lifetime of medical problems, benefit hassles and no welcome home back in the United States.
The Marines are not perfect, but show me who is. This "not in my neighborhood" sentiment is regretful. That Marine took the place of someone's son or daughter who would have been drafted if there was a draft in place. As a mother, I would like to think that if my son or daughter were in the service, people in America would be respectful to them and thankful for their service.
No one has to agree about this war, but please take some time to look at the whole picture before taking out the displeasure of the war against the military men and women. They don't deserve it.
Perhaps this country has not learned any lessons from the anger inflicted on our Vietnam veterans when they came home; let us not make the same mistake with our newest veterans.
If every American son and daughter had to serve in the military and had to share the war burden, I wonder how every person in America and our government would truly feel about involving our country in war, and how quickly they would remove us from a conflict. I wonder indeed.
In our sixth year into this war, more than 4,000 men and women have lost their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. No one is asking for this country to appreciate war, but we can all appreciate the service of our military.
Donna Teresa can be reached at donnateresa@sbcglobal.net.
Homefront Journal Donna Teresa writes about misdirected anger about the war, only at montereyherald.com.
Ellie
