On the problems of those returning from the war fronts

The collectivist one-world thinkers of the left, who have invaded our state-run education system (over the last 100+ years) have much to do with the problems encountered by those in the military today when they return from their sometimes protracted service in Iran, Afghanistan or elsewhere.  They have led us to a society that is much different in the U.S. than it was, say, in the days of World War II.

Those fine soldiers who went off to fight in WWII against the Nazis and the Japanese were (for the most part) very clear on what the U.S. stood for in the world.  They understood that we were engaged in a fight for "liberty" against expansionist military threats in Europe and the Pacific theaters.  And, as Eisenhower put it, after exposing his troops to the discoveries in the Nazi concentration camps: "They may not know what they were fighting for, but they sure as hell will know what they were fight against."

Furthermore, those soldiers knew clearly that they were being fully supported back home -- not by "some Americans," but by virtually "all Americans."  They knew that, partly due to the U.S. citizen's clarity on the issues at stake in the war effort and partly due to social norms of the day, that their spouses and sweethearts would (with great likelihood) be true to them until they returned.

And, when they did return, these men (and women) were treated as the genuine heroes that they were.  There was no mish-mash of opinions about the nature of their service.  There was no question about whether they were "liberators" or "occupiers."

War places tremendous strains on human relationships (e.g., marriage, family) and our culture today simply does not honor those relational commitments the way it did 60 years ago.  Marriages and marital fidelity frequently does not have the strong support from family and friends that it had then.

So, what do you expect from those returning from a war zone?  They come back having seen and done the necessary but hellish things often required of them by the nature of war.  They have been changed, undoubtedly.  Some of them have been seriously injured, having lost a limb, suffered brain injuries, or been permanently scarred or otherwise disfigured.

Meanwhile, they too often return to wives (or husbands) or sweethearts that have not been faithful to them in their absence.  They too frequently find that friends and family are more than ambivalent about the purpose of the war in which they had been engaged.  They are not heroes in the minds of many, and they find themselves being merely "acquaintances" with those who were once their mothers, their fathers, their spouses or their children.

It is no wonder that some of them they suffer mental breakdowns that may lead to divorce, hostility (when turned outward) or suicide (when turned inward).  This is not the fault of war, nor is it the fault of the military.  If anyone is to blame, it is our American society that has lost its "roots" and fidelity in so many, many ways.

...

And they are still wrong today!

"Motivated more by partisan politics than by national security, today's Democratic leaders see America as an occupier, not a liberator. And nothing makes this Marine madder than someone calling American troops occupiers rather than liberators.

"Tell that to the one-half of Europe that was freed because Franklin Roosevelt led an army of liberators, not occupiers.

"Tell that to the lower half of the Korean Peninsula that is free because Dwight Eisenhower commanded an army of liberators, not occupiers.

"Tell that to the half a billion men, women and children who are free today from the Baltics to the Crimea, from Poland to Siberia, because Ronald Reagan rebuilt a military of liberators, not occupiers.

"Never in the history of the world has any soldier sacrificed more for the freedom and liberty of total strangers than the American soldier. And, our soldiers don't just give freedom abroad, they preserve it for us here at home. For it has been said so truthfully that it is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.

"No one should dare to even think about being the Commander in Chief of this country if he doesn't believe with all his heart that our soldiers are liberators abroad and defenders of freedom at home. But don't waste your breath telling that to the leaders of my party today. In their warped way of thinking America is the problem, not the solution. They don't believe there is any real danger in the world except that which America brings upon itself through our clumsy and misguided foreign policy.

"It is not their patriotism - it is their judgment that has been so sorely lacking.

"They claimed Carter's pacifism would lead to peace. They were wrong.

"They claimed Reagan's defense buildup would lead to war. They were wrong." -- Democrat Zell Miller (01 Sep 2004)

And they are still wrong today!

A Different Christmas Poem

(My sister sent this to me in an email.)

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.

Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
"I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.

Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..
Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."
Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."