What is owed/ who will stand - Essay Example

What is owed/ who will stand? Introduction There is a moral seriousness among many veterans of the U.S wars in Iraq, Vietnam and Afghanistan that put to shame the carelessness and evasions of American life. Such seriousness must struggle to be heard in the United States. After all, as of 2006, according to one Army surgeon, America was a place where no one with a lawn service knew or wrote to anyone in Iraq or Afghanistan. This essay discusses the role of government on war and the morality in society along with the lessons people can learn from the past veteran wars. Discussion According to Peter Marin, the Vietnam veterans monument in Washington does very little to inspire veneration or patriotism in the American people; it only demands contemplation, but does not remind the American people about the actual horrors, moral culpability, negligence and corruption of the Vietnam War. Peter Marin cites Ronal Barthes who states, “Monuments and memorials act as cultural myths that commemorate the past, and consequently disguise it by making it more or less than what it was. These memorials make history a part of memory, an object of sentiment, rather than making the past sentience and a part of thought.i Marin argues that the effects of the war should not be ignored by society today; people try to forget the past by closing the door on the past to heal the wounds of the past horrors. This, Marin argues, is wrong because people are yet to come to terms with the lessons the war taught the American people and the moral questions raised by the Vietnam War. Society has not come to terms with what the Veterans are only starting to learn about themselves, as the war recedes into the past. Marin believes that the experiences of the veterans can teach society a lot of moral values.ii Marin describes the effects of the war on the veterans through his experiences with over 300 veterans in Rochester; the veterans seemed to have an increased sense of moral standing despite their political differences. They did not like trouble and panicked in the face of trouble, they cared for one another, they appreciated one another and even found comfort and peace in associating with one another, rather than from Medals of Honor or any awards they received. Marin describes the veterans as showing generosity, tenderness, affection and love to one another, something that the American society can learn from due to the lack of moral in society today.iii The Veterans main concern is justice in society and the world in general; while in Vietnam, the American society abandoned most of these young men; they became exposed to the brutality and culpability of humans. Most of these people are distraught because of the murders of civilians in Vietnam, wondering how the government could have sent them to such horrors, fighting with young teenagers like themselves and causing mass murders. After the war, they felt abandoned by the government and by America as a whole. They feel that the government owes them justice, and that they should not be the creators of these justice; rather, the authorities should be the ones to ensure that justice prevails in the worldiv. In his article, Rethinking Veterans Day from a veteran’s perspective, Ross Caputi despises Veterans Day as it reminds him of his contribution to the destruction of Iraq while he serve as a marine. He remembers participating in the killings of thousands of civilians and the displacement of other civilians during the 2nd siege of Fallujah. Caputi despises the selective remembrance and forgetting of veterans and victims on Veterans Day while new youth are recruited into this same misconception of honor, war and what it means to be a Veteran. The government and society today, are constantly fed lies and taught to accept war, to despise other nations and to commit mass murders and being convinced that it is duty to the nation. Like Marin, Caputi feels that the government is guilty of injustices and that society is gradually becoming less moral by accepting these lies that the government feeds them about the necessity for war.v Caputi castigates Veterans Day for its portrayal of war as patriotism, honor and pride to one’s nation. He states that the people are blinded by these events, forgetting that these veterans, help murder innocent civilians in Iraq, Korea, Vietnam and other places that the government sends its troops on political reasons. In his experience in Fallujah, Caputi remembers leveling 70% of a city three times the size of Wilmington, yet on arriving to the back home, the public was blinded from the truth; the veterans were treated as heroes for “liberating” Fallujah. What the public does not realize is that war does not liberate but take away, that innocent people lose lives; the government sends young men, potential leaders of the future to fight in this politically driven wars and sieges, blindfolding the public with lies of “liberation” and “peace sustenance”.vi Caputti suggests that Veterans Day should not be a day when people celebrate and pride themselves for war, but a day for reflection, thought and learning. People should learn to sympathize with the veterans for what they had to go through, and for what they did as soldiers of “service”. People should also learn to remember the innocent victims that suffer because of the wars. People need to question why they go to war and the morality of war. People need to question the messages from politicians to send young women and men to murder or be killed. Most importantly, veterans need to be the leaders of these thought process; they need to show Americans and the world, that there is a higher moral standing in not succumbing to the calls of war between nations from their respective governments.vii In Kathy Roth-Douquet’s and Frank Schaeffer’s book, AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America’s Upper Classes from Military Service and How It Hurts Our Country, Douquet and Schaeffer explore the thousands of upper class Americans that do not enroll into the military, yet they are the ones who are on the frontlines of advocating for war. The authors discovered that there is a lot of ignorance from the upper class, highly educated American youth about military service. These people have been made to think that the military is for the lower and middle class citizens and that military service is all about Iraq. Roth-Douquet states that society is in a position where the deciders don’t understand what the doers do. Social class plays a major role in military service. However, they do not understand what these middle and low class citizens do in these military service arena. Roth-Douquet and Schaffer challenge the recruiters to try look for young men in Ivy League colleges too. It is about time that that people restore a sense of realism and idealism; people should serve a country, as a country.viii Roth-Douquet and Frank Schaeffer believe that the increasing gap between the upper classes and those in the military service raises three major issues; it weakens the strength of the military, it undermines the strength of civilian leadership due to the lack of experience and wisdom derived from people in national service ad finally it hurts the country, since it deprives the country of the ability to make the best policies possible. To contrast that, the Army Lawyer, an article by the Department of the Army, contends Roth-Douquet’s and Schaeffer’s argument. The article does not contend the two authors’ conceptions that serving the army is good for the individual and society as a whole, however, they contend the authors’ citation of World War II data when everyone was at war. The wars among nations have reduced over time and the data cannot be the same. People are more development oriented that warfare oriented, especially the upper classes. In those days of Roosevelt and Churchill, even the president’s son could serve in the army, not because they did not love their children, but because the War necessitated that every able man participate in one way or another.ix Conclusion However, it is not to be forgotten that war poses a question morality in a nations’ people. People need to change their ideology about warfare and sending men to kill or be killed. The post-traumatic stress of veterans should teach society that war does not necessarily liberate but change the lives of people. It is very necessary that people learn from the moral upstanding of these veterans and the veterans should be at the forefront in teaching the public to resist the temptation to send their children to war. People owe it to themselves to enforce justice and stand up for the rights of humanity. Works Cited Caputi, Ross. "Rethinking Veterans Day from a veteran’s perspective." UDReview. N.p., 12 Nov. 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. . Kiland, Taylor Baldwin. "What The Vietnam POWs Can Teach Us (And It Has Nothing To Do With The Vietnam War)." American Veterans Center What The Vietnam POWs Can Teach Us And It Has Nothing To Do With The Vietnam War Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. . KuhfahlJr, Charles. "AWOL: THE UNEXCUSED ABSENCE OF AMERICA’S UPPER CLASS FROM MILITARY SERVICE ? AND HOW IT HURTS OUR COUNTRY." Library f Congress. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. . Lanigan, Kelly. "Is Military Service a Class?." Vietnam Veterans of America. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2013. . Marin, Peter. "What Vietnam Vets Can Teach US." The American experience in Vietnam: a reader. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1989. 75-85. Print. Read More