WHY DOES AMERICA MEMORIALIZE WAR?

WHY DOES AMERICA MEMORIALIZE WAR?

(Green Bay Press Gazette, Nathan Phelps)

(Karine Varley, Kurt G. Piehler, Henry Reynolds, Philippe Coepel)

(MilitarySpot.com, Sarah Kickler, Kristina Sherry, Julie Carter, Frazer Chronicle)

Actually the headline could read “Why Does the World Memorialize War,” for something that is so horrific, rapes human kind of its dignity and embarrasses world leaders, and so completely exposes human frailties would the exercise in futility be dragged out of our closet each and every year…..and celebrated?

Military veterans from every branch of our services, Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines, and the Coast Guard mark November 11^th as the day when veterans observe their service as well as those comrades in arms who sacrificed their lives to protect the country’s freedom and way of life.

I have all the respect in the world for U.S. military veterans, and I applaud their efforts as well as their lofty position in U.S. history. I also tithe whenever possible the efforts to keep our war veterans benefits, no matter whether it’s housing, food-stuffs, medical or mental care, and help in procuring meaningful employment.

But I think that these benefits and efforts for our veterans…..and more…..need to be addressed on a daily basis, not just on Veterans, or Memorial day. These people have proven their patriotic resolve not by simple words, but through their volunteering to military service.

However that said, I do believe that nobody…..not one single young man or women should volunteer for military service until they have explored all the sides of an issue or the reasons for going to war. I do not care about the history of a family’s lineage with regards to military service. Mostly I feel a sadness whenever some teary eyed 60 something year old man holds a picture of a strapping looking young man who lost his life in Afghanistan or Iraq, and talks about a 4^th generation soldier and how proud he is.

My son was never in the military, in fact you’d need to go back to the early 18^th century to find a Frazer who volunteered to fight for his country, and then that would have been in Canada, fighting the British and Indians…..the Frazer’s weren’t really the soldiering types, we were more lovers than fighters.

HERE’S MY REASONING

I know you’ve heard it here before…..but I reiterate, the U.S. has the world’s largest defense budget, $550 billion. In addition $150 billion was requested for overseas contingency operations, in the war on terrorism, over an additional $33 billion in supplemental spending was added for the overseas contingency effort. Besides direct Department of Defense spending, the U.S. spends another $218 to $262 billion each year on other defense-related programs, such as Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, nuclear weapons maintenance and the State Department.

By services, $225.2 billion was allocated for the Army, $171.7 billion for the Navy and Marine Corps, $160.5 billion, for the Air Force, and $106.4 billion for defense-wide spending. By function, $154.2 billion was requested for personnel, $283.3 billion for operations and maintenance, $140.1 billion for procurement, $79.1 billion for research and development, $23.9 billion for military construction, and $3.1 billion for family housing. Are you ready for this…..the defense budget in 2012 totaled $1 trillion $346.5 billion dollars…..how many citizens could we pull out of lethargy, poverty and ill health in the United States for that figure…..only God knows.

There’s also billions of dollars ear-marked for what is called program continued funding, or an additional $27.7 billion dollars. The U.S. military spending is almost in a catch-22, damned if we do…..and damned if we don’t. Industry depends on military spending for some of the nation’s employment, these are good paying jobs, and communities where these facilities are located would cease to exist if military contracts were lost…..or discontinued.

The United States military (all branches) numbers about 1,429,995 enlisted personnel, 236,826 officers, and 681,232 civilians. In addition that is a total of 850,880 reservists that are affiliated with each branch of the services.

With the abundance of military personnel available to the Pentagon as well as the president and the White House, is there any wonder that military strikes and actions can be launched at almost a moment’s notice, and at the behest of the president.

STREETS, ROADS, BRIDGES, AND BUILDINGS

I used to drive a semi-truck throughout the nation and I noticed how streets, roads and bridges were honored with some soldier’s name with a little plaque commemorating his death, how and why he died. At first I didn’t give it much thought until I noticed an increasing number on the highways and byways. I noticed two fellas attaching one of these plaques to a bridge beside a truck stop and decided to get the scoop on what the hell was going on. The road maintenance guys told me that they had at least 15 other plaques to put on buildings, bridges roads, and streets.

One guy said it was kind of like war propaganda, what with all the name plates and plaques that they had to put up. The observation that these road maintenance guys were helping to memorialize war dead, and propagandize the war effort was not only interesting to me, it was intriguing, and it got me to thinking if what these guys said (almost jokingly) held a nugget of truth…..so I begin to watch the street, roads, bridges and buildings. To my surprise these guys were right, these dead soldiers names and plaques were popping up all over the place.

Around the globe there are over 3000 cemeteries, war memorials and shrines, as well as the thousands here in the United States. These memorials are not without controversy, it’s not unsurprising when one considers that the memorials of foreign soil tend to stir emotions and remembrances of by past military struggles.

WAR IS A TRAUMATIC EVENT IN LIFE

Without exception war, a military skirmish, misunderstands, or an unprovoked affront does get the blood boiling. However the way I look at the question of war is that the effort is futile and very seldom solves anything. Shouldn’t we celebrate the peacemakers and the peacekeepers who through nonviolent activity solve the problems of the world?

So maybe next year…..we enlist all of these old war veterans to tell their war stories in a way to impress on human-kind everywhere that war isn’t romantic, isn’t fun, and is to be avoided at all costs. The only people that gain from a military altercation are the war factories of the world.

HAVE A NICE DAY!