militaryhistory

I was sad to see yet another story of suicide in the army. It was reported that at least four army recruiters from the same brigade had committed suicide over a four year period. All were Veterans of Iraq. According to the story, the recruiting command was pushing unrealistic quotas and a work agenda that may have added to the stress.  But one thing that stood out in their pattern of stress, was the alledged abuse from people that they encountered, particularly the over protective parents of young perspective recruits.

The young widow of one soldier/recruiter had reported that her husband had experienced open hostility from parents, and that she felt that this most definetly added to what he was already feeling. The end result was that he went to his garage where he hung himself with a dog leash. Not a fitting end for a soldier, veteran and servant to our country.

The present world situation is very tragic in many ways. In my opinion, the most tragic part is the fact that the government failed to actively involve the American Citizen in the war on terrorism,  a war which is not over by any stretch of the imagination. When the Commander-in-Chiefs response to the disaster of 9/11 was to “go shopping”, all was lost to the terrorists. But perhaps Bush knew more about Americans than I realized. Perhaps going shopping is all the average citizen knows how to do, or wants to do.

After all, we hand off all of our problems to someone else, bury ourselves in instant gratification and find ways to increase our already overweight obese bodies. We have become a nation of enablers, a band of excuses, a sad example of humans, not a band of brothers. We expect to be coddled for our mistakes, set free when we commit crimes and take no real personal responsibility when we screw up.

A large majority of Americans have never served their country or their community. Many Americans do not even want to pay their fair share of taxes, and yet then they criticize those who have more courage than they do. They put down those who have paid the price so they can walk free and arrogant on the streets of the United States. We hide in our homes and try to ignor everyone elses problems. We think that just because a war is thousands of miles a way, that it should not involve us. Men like Adolf Hitler would have a field day with present day America.

So go ahead,  continue to hand off your problems to someone else. Go to McDonalds, get a Big Mac and enjoy your holiday. Thats what we brave ones want you to do. We want to see you happy and content, warm and safe in your houses and most of all we want you to go shopping. After all, we brave ones also love to go to Walmart, so your not alone there. But do me a favor, give a soldier or a recruiter a break. If you don’t want your family to go to war, have a discussion with your own. Don’t blame the soldier or the recruiter. He does’nt want to go to a war zone either, he just hopes that some of you will decide to take some responsibility and help out.

If you see a soldier or recruiter, thank him or her. Tell them that you appreciate what they do. Tell them that you pray for them and their families. Tell them that you pray every day for peace. This way, we can all get to Walmart and put some gifts under the tree.

By the way, I am in the Army National Guard, and my daughter is in the Regular Army. I am very proud of my family, you should be too.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS