“I did not serve.”
I didn’t, either. The first year I was eligible for the draft, I had a high number. The draft ended the year after that. If I had been notified of being drafted, I probably would have enlisted in the Air Force (I had been in Civil Air Patrol), though my eyesight would have precluded me from being a pilot. But I agree with his point about how most of the “elites,” including every Democrat president since Carter, were people who avoided service.
Say what you will about Jimmy Carter, but it always impressed me how as a Naval officer, he exposed himself to radiation to save a damaged reactor.
https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-history/jimmy-carter-saved-canada-nuclear-destruction/
Most people don’t serve, for a variety of reasons not due to patriotism or courage and many people who do serve don’t do so out of patriotism or courage.
Most of the people who do serve see no combat. Door kickers are a minority. That shouldn’t shame anyone because it takes a lot of support staff to make the door kickers successful. People who didn’t serve shouldn’t be ashamed either for very similar reasons. The strength of the military flows from the strength of our people.
Regret over paths not taken is common and being a warrior is part of our DNA, it preexists being human. But why do we fight? Finding an answer to that might lead you to a trail of answers that guide how you live your life and contribute as much to the country as serving in the military, especially since the range of time you are able to do military stuff is so short.
We like to think of the military as something that saves us but right now, they need us to save them because if we don’t, the psychopaths and sociopaths who will rise to the top of a Progressive Fascist military will destroy our country.
Not all wars are on a battlefield and if you regret missing out on the fight in your youth, the stakes have never been higher than the challenge we face right now. Be that warrior now that you wish you were and fight on the battlefields opening up all across our country and society.
You write good posts, but this one was over-the-top excellent.
Thank you.
This is an issue I have spent a long time thinking about and as Obama has said, you need to do more than tweet. Transforming thought to action is difficult and not just with our current political struggle but with how to be a responsible person. Thought without action is almost meaningless.
I have been listening to a lot of interviews of our most accomplished soldiers. They often enter the military as a blank slate ideologically or with what they subconsciously picked up as kids. It is through service that they develop an appreciation for our country and culture. While success can in some degree be attributed to our culture, military prowess is independent of culture in many ways.
I am terrified that these type of men would be turned toward Progressive Fascism and whose talents would be used against Americans. A military controlled by Progressive Fascists isn’t just one where psychopaths and sociopaths would flourish. It is a place where men capable of great military feats would be free to pursue their desire for power/achievement without the limiting influences of Western Civilization.
Has there ever been a man or woman who hasn’t wondered what they would do if they were in charge?
It can’t be predicted what comes after a societal collapse but there is a good chance that it isn’t what Progressive Fascists intend with their actions to destroy the country.
“A strange game. The only winning move is not to play. How about a nice game of chess?”
This quote is both wrong and right. You don’t win by playing the game presented to you by the other side. You win by redefining what game is being played and executing a strategy that counters the other side.
I don’t know what the solution is and it is likely a bunch of individual actions/solutions but somehow those of us who just want to be left alone to live our lives have to be motivated to act, have our actions support a common goal, and to be organized at some level.
I was an AF brat who tried to serve, but then they found the hernia. Back in the mid-80s we were invading folks like Panama and Grenada, so warm bodies were not at a premium. And we all know how the military feels about damaged goods: thanks but no thanks.
Do I regret not serving? Not really. I did kind of spend the first 18 years of my life in the military, getting dragged hither and yon, learning to fear the blue car pulling into the driveway, not having friends for any real length of time and always trying to fit in with weird new kids. On the flip side, the things I’ve seen, learned and done in my life well merit the miseries endured, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I was an AF brat, born at Nellis AFB. I was also in CAP, and made W.O. This was mostly so I could get cheap flying lessons, but I also had done it so if I entered the A.F. I would get an automatic stripe. Draft ended a few days before my 18th birthday, and if I *had* been drafted I probably would have tried to sign up with the Navy. ( CAP was to get the flying lessons cheap.) As it happens, I worked for many years in the Pentagon, so I think I have done my duty and paid my dues. Not that it is anything like actuall service, mind you…..