Military & Motorcyles June 29, 2012

Published on June 29, 2012 under Born To Ride

Food for Thought

Last Saturday three of us were sitting and talking about world affairs and the situation we currently find ourselves in militarily around the world. And before I actually thought about it I blurted “I for one am sorry the country did away with the draft!”

After I said it I waited for what I thought would be condemnation from my colleagues, which never came. As it were the other two were in agreement with my statement.

Those present represented two Vietnam Veterans and the wife of a career Army Colonel.

What actually brought my statement out into the open was the fact we had been talking about the troops we see retuning from multiple combat deployments.

As I have related in past columns there is approximately 10% of the American population who served to protect this great country of ours. Also keep in mind only approximately 24% of those who we elected to lead us in the House and Senate in Washington have served in the military.

The point I was trying to make with my original statement was this. The United States of America as a whole has not wanted to win a war since World War II. We send our troops into harm’s way to protest those who we have a problem with. Then we will throw billions of taxpayer dollars into their infrastructure, hoping that we can convince them to become a democratic society and live happily ever after.

I personally see several flaws with the ‘powers to be’ plan. The first being we are having our youngest and brightest being killed by people who distrust or dislike us as a society or government. Secondly, most of their infrastructure was pretty much in shambles prior to our arrival on the scene. Thirdly and most importantly the vast amount of monies we are spending are or will pretty much go to waste upon our pull out. Does Vietnam ring a bell?

During my dissertation on the draft I mentioned a large majority of our elected leaders and population have no skin in the game when it comes to going to war. What they know about war is on a television screen or in a simulated war game. What they don’t see and feel is the fear, stress and what comes afterwards, the PTSD, edginess as well as distrust of others.

What is missing in this counterproductive agenda is the smell of cordite, the sounds of the thump-thump of rounds hitting near you, the pain of injuries incurred during battle, the sights of dismembered friends and enemy alike as well as the smell of death in the air.

I personally feel we should re-institute the draft and I’ll just bet the next time we have an incident involving us; we will either win it in short order or stay home.

If you would like to contact me please do so at PGRTerry@gmail.com and remember “It’s not about the war, it’s about the warriors.” God Bless America and those who serve in uniform.