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 11th 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 4th 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 18th
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!
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