We Did Our Duty
Nov 28, 2020 17:37:07 #
I remember the day I found out I got into West Point .
My mom actually showed up in the hallway of my high school and waited for me to get out of class. She was bawling her eyes out and apologizing that she had opened up my admission letter. She wasn't crying because it had
been her dream for me to go there. She was crying because she knew how hard I'd worked to get in, how much I wanted to attend, and how much I wanted to be an infantry officer. I was going to get that opportunity.
That same day two of my teachers took me aside and essentially told me the following: Nick, you're a smart guy. You don't have to join the military. You should go to college, instead.
I could easily write a tome defending West Pont and the military as I did that day,
explaining that USMA is an elite institution, that separate from that it is actually statistically much harder to enlist in the military than it is to get admitted to college, that serving the nation is a challenge that all able-bodied men should at least consider for a host of reasons, but I won't.
What I will say is that when a 16 year-old kid is being told that attending West Point is going to be bad for his future then there is a dangerous disconnect in America , and entirely too many Americans have no idea what kind of burdens our military is bearing.
In World War II, 11.2% of the nation served in four years.
In Vietnam , 4.3% served in 12 years.
Since 2001, only 0.45% of our population has served in the Global War on Terror.
These are unbelievable statistics.
Over time, fewer and fewer people have shouldered more and more of the burden and it is only getting worse. Our troops were sent to war in Iraq by a Congress consisting of 10% veterans with only one person having a child in the military.
Taxes did not increase to pay for the war. War bonds were not sold. Gas was not regulated. In fact, the average citizen was asked to sacrifice nothing, and has sacrificed nothing unless they have chosen to out of the goodness of their hearts.
The only people who have sacrificed are the veterans and their families. The volunteers. The people who swore an oath to defend this nation. You.
You stand there, deployment after deployment and fight on. You've lost relationships, spent years of your lives in extreme conditions, years apart from kids you'll never get back, and beaten your body in a way that even professional athletes don't understand.
Then you come home to a nation that doesn't understand.
They don't understand suffering.
They don't understand sacrifice.
They don't understand that bad people exist.
They look at you like you're a machine – like something is wrong with you. You are the misguided one – not them.
When you get out, you sit in the college classrooms with political science teachers that discount your opinions on Iraq and Afghanistan because YOU WERE THERE and can't understand the macro issues they gathered from books ,with your bias.
You watch TV shows where every vet has PTSD and the violent strain at that.
Your Congress is debating your benefits, your retirement, and your pay, while they ask you to do more.
But the amazing thing about you is that you all know this. You know your country will never pay back what you've given up.
You know that the populace at large will never truly understand or appreciate
what you have done for them.
Hell, you know that in some circles, you will be thought as less than normal for
having worn the uniform. But you do it anyway. You do what the greatest men and women of this country have done since 1775 – YOU SERVED. Just that decision alone makes you part of an elite group.
Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.
My mom actually showed up in the hallway of my high school and waited for me to get out of class. She was bawling her eyes out and apologizing that she had opened up my admission letter. She wasn't crying because it had
been her dream for me to go there. She was crying because she knew how hard I'd worked to get in, how much I wanted to attend, and how much I wanted to be an infantry officer. I was going to get that opportunity.
That same day two of my teachers took me aside and essentially told me the following: Nick, you're a smart guy. You don't have to join the military. You should go to college, instead.
I could easily write a tome defending West Pont and the military as I did that day,
explaining that USMA is an elite institution, that separate from that it is actually statistically much harder to enlist in the military than it is to get admitted to college, that serving the nation is a challenge that all able-bodied men should at least consider for a host of reasons, but I won't.
What I will say is that when a 16 year-old kid is being told that attending West Point is going to be bad for his future then there is a dangerous disconnect in America , and entirely too many Americans have no idea what kind of burdens our military is bearing.
In World War II, 11.2% of the nation served in four years.
In Vietnam , 4.3% served in 12 years.
Since 2001, only 0.45% of our population has served in the Global War on Terror.
These are unbelievable statistics.
Over time, fewer and fewer people have shouldered more and more of the burden and it is only getting worse. Our troops were sent to war in Iraq by a Congress consisting of 10% veterans with only one person having a child in the military.
Taxes did not increase to pay for the war. War bonds were not sold. Gas was not regulated. In fact, the average citizen was asked to sacrifice nothing, and has sacrificed nothing unless they have chosen to out of the goodness of their hearts.
The only people who have sacrificed are the veterans and their families. The volunteers. The people who swore an oath to defend this nation. You.
You stand there, deployment after deployment and fight on. You've lost relationships, spent years of your lives in extreme conditions, years apart from kids you'll never get back, and beaten your body in a way that even professional athletes don't understand.
Then you come home to a nation that doesn't understand.
They don't understand suffering.
They don't understand sacrifice.
They don't understand that bad people exist.
They look at you like you're a machine – like something is wrong with you. You are the misguided one – not them.
When you get out, you sit in the college classrooms with political science teachers that discount your opinions on Iraq and Afghanistan because YOU WERE THERE and can't understand the macro issues they gathered from books ,with your bias.
You watch TV shows where every vet has PTSD and the violent strain at that.
Your Congress is debating your benefits, your retirement, and your pay, while they ask you to do more.
But the amazing thing about you is that you all know this. You know your country will never pay back what you've given up.
You know that the populace at large will never truly understand or appreciate
what you have done for them.
Hell, you know that in some circles, you will be thought as less than normal for
having worn the uniform. But you do it anyway. You do what the greatest men and women of this country have done since 1775 – YOU SERVED. Just that decision alone makes you part of an elite group.
Never in the field of human conflict has so much been owed by so many to so few.
Nov 28, 2020 17:45:00 #
Dwieds
Loc: Richmond Va. and Smith Mountain Lake Va.
Can I please ask class were you sir?
Thank you sooo much for your service.
Thank you sooo much for your service.
Nov 28, 2020 18:06:15 #
Kerry Hansen wrote:
I remember the day I found out I got into West Poi... (show quote)
Thank you so much for your service to this great nation. it’s people like yourself and all the others that have kept this country free. I truly feel sorry that you and the other men and women who served have had to see the nonsense this country has turned to.
Thank you again
Nov 28, 2020 18:31:13 #
Dwieds wrote:
Can I please ask class were you sir?
Thank you sooo much for your service.
Thank you sooo much for your service.
The Pacific.
Nov 28, 2020 18:33:17 #
Just so you know, I didn't author this, but cleaning out my emails and saving/ sharing and deleting stuff I thought this was appropriate!
Nov 28, 2020 19:01:20 #
The decision was made nearly fifty years ago to end the draft and move to an all volunteer force. Partially because President Nixon felt that the anti-war faction would stop their clamoring if they were no longer subject to the draft. He was probably right. There hasn't really been much of a movement to bring it back. Personally I'm of the opinion that there should be mandatory service of some kind for all citizens, with the reward for such service being citizenship itself and all the rights which accompany it. You don't earn it? you don't get it. And it should be made starkly clear just what it is exactly that your are surrendering if you choose not to serve.
Nov 28, 2020 19:19:23 #
Nov 28, 2020 19:31:56 #
I really doubt it Kerry. The way wars are fought these days, not a lot of need for large numbers of troops. Large armies just make large targets. Troops need to be mobile and sneaky.
Nov 28, 2020 19:51:03 #
Yep we just started our slow march to WW 3. You need to look at history of our wars since before WW1. The big problem is people forget history and our education system is dumming down our kids by not teaching it. remember in old times people thought the earth was flat and the sun revolved around the earth and didn't believe those who thought otherwise.
Nov 28, 2020 20:26:10 #
Nov 28, 2020 20:27:33 #
Nov 29, 2020 08:01:22 #
Kerry Hansen wrote:
I remember the day I found out I got into West Poi... (show quote)
Interesting Stats here Kerry. Wonder if there is a Stat on the # of militias that would protect the home land. Not the looser organizations that are blinded by prejudice. But those that would defend there own back yard if it came to that.
Nov 29, 2020 08:20:01 #
Nov 29, 2020 09:13:39 #
Nov 29, 2020 15:58:56 #
Justoldjim
Loc: JUNCTION CITY, OR.
plumbob wrote:
Interesting Stats here Kerry. Wonder if there is a Stat on the # of militias that would protect the home land. Not the looser organizations that are blinded by prejudice. But those that would defend there own back yard if it came to that.
Mostly us old men
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