I joined the military with high hopes
that some discipline would straighten out my life. This was during peacetime, but given
my state of mind at the time I probably would have joined even if our country
had been at war. I know this is easy for me to say now, but as I sit here reflecting
on my 20 year old decision making ability (or lack thereof) I think I would
have. I joined simply to get away from my town and my bad habits. I needed a
little “Leave the driving to us”.
I guess you could say that jury is
still out on military discipline putting me on the straight and narrow. I had a looking-for-trouble state of
mind back then and I found plenty of trouble in the military. If you expect it,
you will find it. So while I was not a model Navy man, my experience did help
me point my life in a much needed new direction. At least I learned something.
But enough about me! What I really want to comment on is
simply the why of my joining the
military. I wanted to grow up. I don’t necessarily think everyone joins for the
same reasons I did, but I wasn’t alone. A portion of my recruiting class had
attended a military school or had ROTC training in high school; these guys were
looking for a career. Several were from military families and were following in
the footsteps of a familiar life. But there were many just like me. I knew who
the president was, but that was about the depth of my political knowledge. I
had no cause and little care; the only ship I was truly interested in was the
USS Ande.
I think of this today after reading
an article about removing the carving from the face of Stone Mountain. The images of mounted southern Civil
War icons Davis, Lee and Jackson loom large in the saddle as they look straight
ahead with their hats placed over their hearts. A salute to the South and a
tribute to those who lost their lives in a war that happened over 150 years
ago; a war that changed the face of this country forever; a war that made it
official that all human beings (at least in the Unites States) are created
equal. Even though I was born a raised in the South I feel like a winner.
So what in the world do this carving
and my infamous military career have to do with one another? Everything. Wars are fought, won and
lost by people just like the confused 20 year old boy that was me in 1982; boys
that need a paycheck; boys that need to get away from their hometown; boys that
have little idea of what the war is even about; boys that, during the Civil war
era, would have been killed by their own had they chosen not to fight. Many of
these boys and men from both sides never made it home and right or wrong, their
ultimate sacrifice should never be forgotten. The carving is not a tribute to
division and hate; it is a memorial to the process of defeating it.
Does anybody think that removing the carving would remove that huge part of our country's history? Well said Ande. As the mother of boys, my knees buckle at every prospect or account of war.
ReplyDeleteAs a human being my knees suffer the same emotion!
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ReplyDeleteAnde, Thank you for sharing your insightful and thought provoking article. It is sad that history can be so easily forgotten, twisted,and rewritten by those in future generations. Unless we lived in that particular time, our perspectives probably don't come close to a real understanding of anyone's reason for the position they took in any given conflict. All those young men's reasons for joining that you cited are likely, but the politicians' and so-called leaders' who orchestrate the wars are usually complex and less likely to be understood by future generations. Some of those reasons and motives might be sinister, misguided, or totally appropriate for that time. It is left to historians to reshape and rewrite the books that will influence our children and grandchildren. For example,in recent years many attempt to deny the horror of the Jewish Holocaust. Since the late 19th century, many have attempted to rewrite the political and social history that brought on the War of Northern Aggression, so commonly called the Civil War. There probably isn't a history book still in existence anywhere in academia that tells the entire truth about that conflict. Truth has been remodeled by historians yet again.
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