HEROES

I wouldn't take nothing for the experience but I wouldn't give a dime to do it again.

Guy Sumpter

I went to church with Guy Sumpter. He was a tank captain during WWII and once told me that he had three tanks shot out from under him and they would always put him in another one and send him back. I'm not certain due to memory but I believe he said this was at the Battle of the Bulge. He wasn't the only veteran of WWII that I have known. I have known many. L.C. Henry also went to church with me. He was wounded at one of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific Campaign, Iwo Jima. My father whose name I share, had a ship sank that he was on in the harbor at Casablanca. He served the rest of the war in the Pacific on a destroyer and was part of the occupying force in Japan. He walked through Nagasaki just some weeks after the second atomic bomb was dropped there. These men have become known as part of The Greatest Generation. I seriously doubt that any one of these men would
have accepted being called a hero. They just did their duty. I met a man who lived at Shopville who, once he found out that Dad was a Navy man, told me of his experience in the war. He was a driver of the boats that landed troops on the beaches. He said that there were times that when the ramp dropped not a man made if off the boat. We spoke of the nightmares that had stayed with him and my Dad and then he began to cry. Do you think he thought he was a hero?

I remember back in high school being taught about the beginnings of Western Democracy and Philosophy. (Do they teach that stuff any more)? One of the lessons was to contrast the modes of government between the city states of Sparta and Athens. Since then I have learned that it was much more complex that we were taught but one of the lessons was on the warlike nature of Sparta. It is said that Sparta would take the male children when very young and inculcate them in the arts of warfare. When they went to battle they were expected to come back either carrying their shield or being carried on it. The ethic of doing battle to the death for the city/state was made part of their persona and their heroes were lionized. We still do that but a little differently now. Did you know that Hero is a word from the ancient Greek and was the name of a priestess of Aphrodite?

I don't recall the 58,000 men and women who lost their lives in Vietnam being called heroes. The combatants of that war were called many things but I don't think Hero was one of them. So, why do we now refer to all who serve in combat roles as heroes? They may deserve the title but that isn't why we call them that.

After the debacle of Vietnam and the wholesale disapproval of that war our military leaders, now faced with an all volunteer force, resolved to never again go into battle without a clear directive from the nation, a plan for victory and overwhelming force. Secretary of State and General Colin Powell made that point just prior to the Iraqi invasion but the political desire of our elected leaders rejected that and the nation has paid a price and is still paying it.

Why do we go to war in places that seem to hold no special interest for us? Our country has not come under direct attack since 1812 and yet we are always talking about defending our homeland. Yes, 9/11 was in New York and killed some 3000 people but that was not an attack leading to an assault on the homeland. Those who committed that act had no ability to continue as outright warfare. The response in Afghanistan was proper and then we took our eyes off the ball. I'm not going to try to discuss that at this time because that is not the point that I am coming to.

We go to war or involve ourselves in military action about 30% of the time to pursue some national interest or to prevent some competing nation from achieving superiority. The remainder of the conflicts that we become involved in are largely in order to keep markets open for our corporations. The giant multi-national petro-chemical industries, our war-making industries that have to sell their instruments of death so that they can make money and employ Americans, our leadership in
cybernetics and information technology is marketed around the globe and often in places that, were it not for the threat of sanctions or military action, some other major competitor would be in a more advantageous place. Think of the South China Sea and the Persian Gulf. We even use these threats to support our agricultural industries. There are many more examples but we won't go there. You get the idea.

How can we get our young men and women to put themselves in harms way for less than they could make in industries?

We tell the people they are heroes who gave their lives so that we could live freely in this country protected on both sides by oceans. When our dead come home they are in new aluminum boxes each covered by an American flag. They are shown great honor through salutes and rituals to express the gratitude of a thankful nation. A thankful nation that sends .4% of its men and women to serve the interests of the other 99.6% that sacrifice little.

That is My Take on why they are called heroes. How else could you manipulate a nation into sending its sons and daughters. Do not mistake me. Every person who puts on the uniform of our nation is deserving of honor. The ones that do not deserve honor are those who send them in harm's way for profit.