Poignant American Story
Nov 23, 2014 20:39:09 #
Poignant American story by a liberal who is learning
My Heart on the Line
By Frank Schaeffer
The Washington Post
Before my son became a Marine, I never thought much about who was defending me. Now when I read of the war on terrorism or the coming conflict in Iraq, it cuts to my heart. When I see a picture of a member of our military who has been killed, I read his or her name very carefully. Sometimes I cry.
In 1999, when the barrel-chested Marine recruiter showed up in dress blues and bedazzled my son John, I did not stand in the way. John was headstrong, and he seemed to understand these stern, clean men with straight backs and flawless uniforms. I did not. I live in the Volvo-driving, higher education-worshiping North Shore of Boston. I write novels for a living. I have never served in the military.
It had been hard enough sending my two older children off to Georgetown and New York University. John's enlisting was unexpected, so deeply unsettling. I did not relish the prospect of answering the question, "So where is John going to college?" from the parents who were itching to tell me all about how their son or daughter was going to Harvard. At the private
high school John attended, no other students were going into the military.
"But aren't the Marines terribly Southern?" asked one perplexed mother while standing next to me at the brunch following graduation. "What a waste, he was such a good student," said another parent. One parent (a professor at a nearby and rather famous university) spoke up at a school meeting and suggested that the school should "carefully evaluate what went wrong."
When John graduated from three months of boot camp on Parris Island, 3,000 parents and friends were on the parade deck stands. We parents and our Marines not only were of many races but also were representative of many economic classes. Many were poor. Some arrived crammed in the backs of pickups, others by bus. John told me that a lot of parents could not afford the trip.
We in the audience were white and Native American. We were Hispanic, Arab, and African American, and Asian. We were former Marines wearing the scars of battle, or at least baseball caps emblazoned with battles' names. We were Southern whites from Nashville and skinheads from New Jersey, black kids from Cleveland wearing ghetto rags and white ex-cons with ham-hock
forearms defaced by jailhouse tattoos. We would not have been mistaken for the educated and well-heeled parents gathered on the lawns of John's private school a half-year before.
After graduation one new Marine told John, "Before I was a Marine, if I had ever seen you on my block I would've probably killed you just because you were standing there." This was a serious statement from one of John's good friends, a black ex-gang member from Detroit who, as John said, "would die for me now, just like I'd die for him."
My son has connected me to my country in a way that I was too selfish and insular to experience before. I feel closer to the waitress at our local diner than to some of my oldest friends. She has two sons in the Corps. They are facing the same dangers as my boy. When the guy who fixes my
car asks me how John is doing, I know he means it. His younger brother is in the Navy.
Why were I and the other parents at my son's private school so surprised by his choice? During World War II, the sons and daughters of the most powerful and educated families did their bit. If the idea of the immorality of the Vietnam War was the only reason those lucky enough to go to college dodged the draft, why did we not encourage our children to volunteer for military
service once that war was done?
Have we wealthy and educated Americans all become pacifists? Is the world a safe place? Or have we just gotten used to having somebody else defend us? What is the future of our democracy when the sons and daughters of the janitors at our elite universities are far more likely to be put
in harm's way than are any of the students whose dorms their parents clean?
I feel shame because it took my son's joining the Marine Corps to make me take notice of who is defending me. I feel hope because perhaps my son is part of a future "greatest generation." As the storm clouds of war gather, at least I know that I can look the men and women in uniform
in the eye. My son is one of them. He is the best I have to offer. He is my heart.
My Heart on the Line
By Frank Schaeffer
The Washington Post
Before my son became a Marine, I never thought much about who was defending me. Now when I read of the war on terrorism or the coming conflict in Iraq, it cuts to my heart. When I see a picture of a member of our military who has been killed, I read his or her name very carefully. Sometimes I cry.
In 1999, when the barrel-chested Marine recruiter showed up in dress blues and bedazzled my son John, I did not stand in the way. John was headstrong, and he seemed to understand these stern, clean men with straight backs and flawless uniforms. I did not. I live in the Volvo-driving, higher education-worshiping North Shore of Boston. I write novels for a living. I have never served in the military.
It had been hard enough sending my two older children off to Georgetown and New York University. John's enlisting was unexpected, so deeply unsettling. I did not relish the prospect of answering the question, "So where is John going to college?" from the parents who were itching to tell me all about how their son or daughter was going to Harvard. At the private
high school John attended, no other students were going into the military.
"But aren't the Marines terribly Southern?" asked one perplexed mother while standing next to me at the brunch following graduation. "What a waste, he was such a good student," said another parent. One parent (a professor at a nearby and rather famous university) spoke up at a school meeting and suggested that the school should "carefully evaluate what went wrong."
When John graduated from three months of boot camp on Parris Island, 3,000 parents and friends were on the parade deck stands. We parents and our Marines not only were of many races but also were representative of many economic classes. Many were poor. Some arrived crammed in the backs of pickups, others by bus. John told me that a lot of parents could not afford the trip.
We in the audience were white and Native American. We were Hispanic, Arab, and African American, and Asian. We were former Marines wearing the scars of battle, or at least baseball caps emblazoned with battles' names. We were Southern whites from Nashville and skinheads from New Jersey, black kids from Cleveland wearing ghetto rags and white ex-cons with ham-hock
forearms defaced by jailhouse tattoos. We would not have been mistaken for the educated and well-heeled parents gathered on the lawns of John's private school a half-year before.
After graduation one new Marine told John, "Before I was a Marine, if I had ever seen you on my block I would've probably killed you just because you were standing there." This was a serious statement from one of John's good friends, a black ex-gang member from Detroit who, as John said, "would die for me now, just like I'd die for him."
My son has connected me to my country in a way that I was too selfish and insular to experience before. I feel closer to the waitress at our local diner than to some of my oldest friends. She has two sons in the Corps. They are facing the same dangers as my boy. When the guy who fixes my
car asks me how John is doing, I know he means it. His younger brother is in the Navy.
Why were I and the other parents at my son's private school so surprised by his choice? During World War II, the sons and daughters of the most powerful and educated families did their bit. If the idea of the immorality of the Vietnam War was the only reason those lucky enough to go to college dodged the draft, why did we not encourage our children to volunteer for military
service once that war was done?
Have we wealthy and educated Americans all become pacifists? Is the world a safe place? Or have we just gotten used to having somebody else defend us? What is the future of our democracy when the sons and daughters of the janitors at our elite universities are far more likely to be put
in harm's way than are any of the students whose dorms their parents clean?
I feel shame because it took my son's joining the Marine Corps to make me take notice of who is defending me. I feel hope because perhaps my son is part of a future "greatest generation." As the storm clouds of war gather, at least I know that I can look the men and women in uniform
in the eye. My son is one of them. He is the best I have to offer. He is my heart.
Nov 23, 2014 20:55:28 #
Nov 23, 2014 21:18:47 #
I have read more than one source that stated one of the goals of the old Soviet Union was to influence the intellectuals of the west to turn pacifist and thus bend the whole educated class that way. Since many government types come from that class they would thus pacify large parts of their governments.
It would also tend to be a self replicating thing. Intellectuals tend to be isolated from reality and a belief in peace and pacifism is a very attractive thing. even to those of us who do know and understand more about how the 'real' world works. We want peace just as much as the intellectual class, but we know that a large part of the world doesn't think that way, so we can't afford to. They are insulated in various ivy covered towers and believe that only the crazy, evil, ignorant and uneducated think differently from them.
It would also tend to be a self replicating thing. Intellectuals tend to be isolated from reality and a belief in peace and pacifism is a very attractive thing. even to those of us who do know and understand more about how the 'real' world works. We want peace just as much as the intellectual class, but we know that a large part of the world doesn't think that way, so we can't afford to. They are insulated in various ivy covered towers and believe that only the crazy, evil, ignorant and uneducated think differently from them.
Nov 23, 2014 22:29:21 #
robertjerl wrote:
I have read more than one source that stated one o... (show quote)
+1 Thanks for sharing my thoughts with this forum. :thumbup:
Nov 23, 2014 23:29:18 #
Nov 24, 2014 06:21:40 #
richosob
Loc: Lambertville, MI
Meives wrote:
Poignant American story by a liberal who is learni... (show quote)
Very nicely said, your son is a real hero. Thank you for your words.
Rich
Nov 24, 2014 07:19:04 #
brow3904
Loc: Upstate South Carolina
Thanks for sharing your story. I know you are proud of this son, too.
Having a son who left home with nothing but the clothes on his back headed for the Air Force Academy I can identify. I didn't understand his need to in the military but was proud of his willingness to serve. Now eleven years later, four tours in the middle east and presently a major serving in Germany I realize how important it is his decision was. I try to remember to thank every military person for their service and for the sacrifice he/she and their families have made to keep us safe.
Thank your son from me, too!
Having a son who left home with nothing but the clothes on his back headed for the Air Force Academy I can identify. I didn't understand his need to in the military but was proud of his willingness to serve. Now eleven years later, four tours in the middle east and presently a major serving in Germany I realize how important it is his decision was. I try to remember to thank every military person for their service and for the sacrifice he/she and their families have made to keep us safe.
Thank your son from me, too!
Nov 24, 2014 07:33:31 #
Nov 24, 2014 09:44:23 #
Your posting hit a home run with me. I see you made a statement about the 'immoral Viet Nam' war.
"All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting."
--George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia
What I'm trying to say here is that your son and I have a bond by being Marines even though decades apart. I was in VN. I participated in in the war. Yet, I maintained my morals, as did hundred of thousands of other American's whether Army, Navy or Marines.
Because of a select few, VN has been dubbed the 'immoral war' as the pen of G. Orwell describes.
Your sons morals are what you taught him, and what is imbedded in him and what he carries for the rest of his life, even if he has to do the ultimate.
Since you wrote this post, I hope you told you son how proud you are of him, personally. I remember my father telling me of how proud he was of me, and his words still ring in my mind even though he has passed.
Semper FI to your son!
"All the war-propaganda, all the screaming and lies and hatred, comes invariably from people who are not fighting."
--George Orwell, Homage to Catalonia
What I'm trying to say here is that your son and I have a bond by being Marines even though decades apart. I was in VN. I participated in in the war. Yet, I maintained my morals, as did hundred of thousands of other American's whether Army, Navy or Marines.
Because of a select few, VN has been dubbed the 'immoral war' as the pen of G. Orwell describes.
Your sons morals are what you taught him, and what is imbedded in him and what he carries for the rest of his life, even if he has to do the ultimate.
Since you wrote this post, I hope you told you son how proud you are of him, personally. I remember my father telling me of how proud he was of me, and his words still ring in my mind even though he has passed.
Semper FI to your son!
Nov 24, 2014 13:13:29 #
A very heartfelt, Semper Fi, to John and a, welcome to the real world to you.
I can only ask, Who did you think was in the military helping to keep the world free from nations like Germany, Japan, Italy, Iran, North Korea etc.? Meaning no offense, you remind me of good friends of mine who have strong and young sons and daughters who seem to have no ambition and no set goals for their lives. When I suggest they could join the military I am looked upon with scorn. When I ask why are you looking at me like that, I am told, "I don't want my kids to get killed or maimed". I can't help reply with, "Do you honestly think my mother wanted me or my two brothers to get killed or maimed"? Do you think my grand parents wanted their sons to get killed or maimed in WW2 or Korea"?
This amazing country belongs to ALL of us. It is up to ALL of us to protect each other and keep America safe.
Dennis
I can only ask, Who did you think was in the military helping to keep the world free from nations like Germany, Japan, Italy, Iran, North Korea etc.? Meaning no offense, you remind me of good friends of mine who have strong and young sons and daughters who seem to have no ambition and no set goals for their lives. When I suggest they could join the military I am looked upon with scorn. When I ask why are you looking at me like that, I am told, "I don't want my kids to get killed or maimed". I can't help reply with, "Do you honestly think my mother wanted me or my two brothers to get killed or maimed"? Do you think my grand parents wanted their sons to get killed or maimed in WW2 or Korea"?
This amazing country belongs to ALL of us. It is up to ALL of us to protect each other and keep America safe.
Dennis
Nov 24, 2014 22:41:20 #
Nov 24, 2014 22:51:42 #
Some of you need to read everything before you post. This is an article from the Washington Post by Frank Schaeffer. It was posted here by Meives. Unless Meives is Frank Schaeffer your replies need to be rethought and reworded.
If you want to reply, then register here. Registration is free and your account is created instantly, so you can post right away.