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The Warriors
By farrind on 2008-10-11 18:48:32
[caption id="attachment_288" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Syracuse Cultural workers bumper sticker"]
\wSyracuse Cultural workers bumper sticker[/caption] This will begin again with the thought Against the War, not the
warrior. As another point of beginning, I will put in the thought of what we all like to do: to make a free choice. Or, the idea
that the "warrior", the woman or man who is in the service had some say in arriving there. (And, even on some good days,
the general premise of our free will may seem doubtful). But for today, begin from that free choice, but bear in mind the
bumper sticker thought. And so you come to contrasting "against the war" with trying to affirm the warrior, which leads to a
dilemma. If you, like me want to see the war end, how does that go along with supporting our brave people who are fighting
for us? Are there some ways the choice of a brave enlisted man or woman was a less than free one? When this occurred to
me I jotted down some possibilities of what being less than perfectly free might mean for a soldier. Now, I don't have any
reading I've done to gather statistics on the ages of our enlisted men. I do not have surveys of how they (any of them) view
the conflict. I have just a couple of ideas of situations that could have influenced someone's choice. Was the soldier looking
at some new or tough family circumstance? Maybe this was going to be a real benefit for him, going into the service. This
might be offering something good, or the chance for training he really wanted. Or maybe, since seniors in high school are
told continuously to go for more education, this was his (her) way of grabbing at that, but going instead after hands-on
education. Another idea: perhaps those last years of high school turned out to be a rough or rocky time (or this senior just
didn't finish). This could also be true if we talk about times well after high school. Then maybe this time of concern led this
person to wish to enlist. The crucial question which enters now is: did the man then go on with a few days of thinking, of
probing what is the current deal in Iraq? Did he seek the general forces - such as the way the US government works- which
led to the start of the conflict? All I've said, in the two paragraphs before, begs that question, though. I heard this morning
from a couple of mothers. Diane has a son in the Army in Afghanistan while the other woman told me about her youngest
boy. I'll refer to him here as "J". This young man, J, is wrapping up college with doing a period of service in a city in
Russia. He's enrolled in an actual program, sponsored by our government, and unfortunately I can't recall the name of the
program, though his mother told me. J has actually been doing translating. The program is in selected countries to which
our students are sent to add to their education, but also literally to help. One of its major goals is to have the students as a
US presence in countries whose relationships with ours are somewhat frayed. For J at least, being in Russia for two
semesters is part of his contribution. It also has given him some insight and experience into being in western Russia. This
has the sound of a project that is leading towards a reasonable outcome, a better bond of the US with a neighbor. Maybe,
anyway, it could be better than what's come of the years the US has been in Iraq. Doesn't this sound hopeful, and like what
some US citizens would favor? Or, imagine a young man looking at his years, say, from age 22 to 24. And he's thinking
about what his choices are, and considering enlisting for those years. Doesn't such a program sound like what he might
choose instead?
