Thursday, May 31, 2007

Why do we serve?

What is the role of the military? I ask that as a somewhat rhetorical question but also with some sincerity. I was reading a post on the internet (courtesy of Instapundit) with a tempest brewing over a 30 second youtube clip from Fred Thompson and a reply to it. Some of the comments struck me so i thought i would write about it for a little bit. First, what Fred Thompson was speaking is a poem here:

It is the soldier, not the reporter, Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet, Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the organizer, Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier, Who salutes the flag, Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag, Who allows the protestor to burn the flag.
- Father Dennis Edward O’Brian, USMC


The argument being made by the responder is that soldiers should be proud of their profession, but at the end of the day that is what it is, a profession. I wonder if thats true. Is serving in the military a profession, is it an additional job for the benefits and the money, or is it something more akin to a calling? Is serving in the military the same as another profession like being a writer, a politician, an engineer, or anything else? Is the military just pawns?

After being over in Iraq for getting close to a year now, I still don't know how to feel about it. I do know that I am thankful everyday for the rest of the people here with me, but more specifically, the full time combat guys here. My job over here is signal, most transmission side stuff and a good hunk of tech stuff too. Now my job isn't the safest job, and certainly I have a higher risk of bodily harm and injury and such compared to doing a deskjob, yet compare my job to those of the 11B, 13C, and many other combat jobs and mine is a walk in the park. Those are the guys that, day in and day out, are the ones who are patroling the streets, kicking in doors in Baghdad, etc etc etc. Those guys are the real rough guys that can take the dirty jobs that allow everyone else to sleep peacefully in their beds at night (to paraphrase). Those men are real heros to me.

But are they also pawns? I would have to say no, they are not pawns, because they do have the right to not do what they do. They volunteered to do what they do, as do all soldiers in the American military. We all chose to give up our constitutional rights so that we might defend those same rights when we come home.

I don't denigrate other professions, and there are certainly many others that are fully honorable professions to work in, most notably people who work as police, and firemen. They take a full risk of life to serve a higher calling of making a difference.

I guess my questioning comes from when i hear people say "I support the troops" and i ask how. Someone actually got offended at this question. I'm just curious how people's mindsets are when they say they support me, or the military in general. Most of the people i know in my unit don't want grand accolades. They don't want a parade, or ribbons, and they don't want to put on a stage. All the support I want, and i think this goes for alot of us, would like in recognition of our service is an occasional 'Thanks' and maybe a free beer at the bar.

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