The Plight of Our Soldiers in the Military: Our Attitude?

Much has been said about the psychological toll that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken on American soldiers.  Little, however, has said about why these wars have taken such a tremendous psychological toll but the fierce battles of World Wars I and II did not do so.  Ironically, I think that there is a very simple explanation for the difference—one that liberals refuse to acknowledge.

Quite simply, Americans were proud of the soldiers who fought in World Wars I and II.  Anyone who had given such military service was treated with extraordinary respect and deference.  A tremendous sense of gratitude was displayed towards any such soldier.  There was a very straightforward sense in which any soldier of these two wars could have tremendous pride in public for having rendered such service.  Certainly, it would have been absolutely unthinkable for college presidents and deans and professors to speak in a demeaning way of those who had served in the military during World Wars I and II.  To this very day, none do so.

I suggest that this social backdrop was none other than a profound psychological balm—the Balm in Gilead, if you will—for the psychological trauma that soldiers endured during World Wars I and II.  It is so very much easier to cope with psychological pain when there is an immutable backdrop of appreciation for what one has done and the sacrifices that one made to do it.

Fast forward to the present and the very opposite is true in terms of the general attitude that Americans have towards soldiers.  In particular, college presidents and deans and professors seem to think that they have some sort of special anointing that entitles them to denounce those who serve in the military.  Against this backdrop to serve in the military nowadays is effectively to be pariah in society.  And that has to be a very deep form of psychological pain to members of the military—a pain that only deepens the psychological scars of the military service itself.

On a recent airplane trip, there were four young men sitting in the vicinity where I was seated all of whom had volunteered for military service.  They effectively had a most pleasant surprise as a conversation ensued between us.  “So where are you guys off to?”, I asked.  One guy looked and with a sense of hesitancy  and responded “To boot camp”.  To that remark I responded: “Awesome, I am so very impressed and honoured to be sitting next to you”.  Well, I do not think that the four young men could have been much more surprised than if an angel of the Lord had appeared.  

I did not inquire as to why they had signed up for the military.  I did not raise the issue of whether or not it would have been better for them to attend college.  That is, there was not the slightest hint on my part that there might have been a better alternative to signing up for military service.  These gentlemen were so not expecting such a positive attitude from the middle-aged man sitting in their midst.  And when I told them that I am a professor there was a sense of bewilderment on their face.  Perhaps—so they might have momentarily thought—I had misunderstood what they said they were going to do!   

I went on make the following very simple point: Whatever one thinks about this war or that war and the other war, those who serve in the military are deserving of respect and gratitude.  That is indeed my official view; and it is a view that I am very public about in the classroom.  Indeed, it my view that as a token of gratitude the grade of every senior in my class who has enlisted in the military should be raised one full letter grade higher.  

As a professor my attitude has so surprised students who have enlisted in the military that some have even wondered about my motives.  One can just see the look in their eyes: “What is he really about?”  A professor who is supportive of students who enlist in the military!  A black professor who is supportive of students who enlist in the military!  Is this for real?  Dare I count the number of stereotypes that get exploded?   

“Freedom is not free”.  That is a very simple observation and an ever so profound truth.  I treasure the point.  It is so very sad that we who insist upon the freedom to do just about anything, no matter how foolish it is, are oblivious to the background conditions which make that freedom a reality of our lives and social environment.  This claim is particularly poignant with respect to college presidents and deans and professors who in the name of freedom of thought and diversity have advanced some of the most implausible views imaginable.  And while in this regard their imagination is ever so fertile, they cannot seem to grasp the simple truth that the very freedom which they enjoy is not free.   

To all who enlist in the military, I have but two words to say to you:

Thank You!