An Apology to Recent Soldiers and Vets

You know, I have been giving some thought lately about how I have been feeling about our current veterans and active duty soldiers.

In the theoretical, overall, view I have been supportive of them.  I have been mad that they have not been getting the benefits and support from the government that they were promised and they damned well deserve.  Chief among that was both equipment in combat situations and post-combat support for medical needs.

But on an individual basis, I do not know if I have been so generous.  This has many reasons:

• The recruiting has been disingenuous to say the least.  To the point that I, personally,  developed a negative attitude regarding anyone naive enough to fall for the tactics used.  In fact, one branch, the USMC recruiting tactics were so outrageous that they were promising high school graduates that they would become Marine Pilots only to have them, if they were lucky, become aircraft mechanics.  I even coined the phrase “The Few, The Proud, The Stupid, The Marines” just because of their recruiting practices.
• The All Volunteer Military resulted in an totally non-representative military.  I am not saying it ever was.  The military was always heavily represented conservative-minded people in the command ranks and the enlisted ranks were populated in large part by conservative and underprivileged people using the military as a way out.  But when the military went all voluntary, that was there.  In essence, it became a closed society that really does not reflect the majority of society if polls are to be considered.  In short, I did not have much in common with them once people my age retired from the military, for there were a few non-conservatives who chose the military as a career in the past but not anymore.
• The  active effort of the government to keep the military separate from the rest of society.  In my opinion, by not activating the draft, the government did everything they could to continue to separate the military from the rest of us.  Instead they extended enlistments, activated National Guard and Reserve units to fight our wars.
• The use of mercenaries during the recent actions has been troubling, even when they are ex-US Military.  Because mercenaries have so many negative connotations both in the short-term and long-term it tainted my attitude about the military in general.  Oh, and before anyone gets their hackles up about my use of the term mercenary, that is exactly what they were and are.  Calling them contractors does not change a damned thing.
• The war against Iraq was suspect from the beginning and ultimately proved to be based upon lies.  Not false intelligence, but out-and-out lies.  My objections to this did somewhat taint my attitude towards individuals who supported the war, active military included.

But just like the war of my generation, Vietnam, I have always tried to never treat anyone in the military negatively.  But that does not seem to be enough.  I want to thank them for their service.  They were doing, and are doing, their duty as they see it and I am grateful.

The best way I can say this is to say that when I was fortunate enough to go to Washington, DC the first place I went to was the Vietnam Memorial.  Even before I checked into my hotel.  I want current veterans know I hold them in the same esteem.