There is a move afoot to declare March 30 to be “Welcome Home Vietnam Veterans Day,” meant to mark the anniversary of our 1973 final withdrawal of combat troops from Vietnam and to recognize the lousy treatment given to troops returning from that war four decades ago. Even now, when Vietnam veterans meet and shake hands, they often exchange a greeting of “welcome home,” a custom that arose because so many were not treated well on their return.
Speaking as only one Vietnam vet, I think there are far more important things Congress and state legislatures should be doing. We treat our troops too much like mercenaries, specialists we hire to gamble their life to do our dirty work.
I know what you’re thinking: We tell our troops “thank you!” frequently now. Applause ripples in airports as groups of uniformed troops come and go on deployment. Some residents are bold enough to walk up to those in uniform to thank them for their service.
But beyond lip service, we don’t give our men and women in uniform the commitment and support a fighting force deserves. At the root, I believe, is that the sacrifice of service is not widely shared; political correctness; and America’s obsession with being liked.
Our all-volunteer military means your sons and daughters don’t have to serve. When you factor out World War II, Korea and Vietnam veterans, less than 5 percent of the population will know the special feeling of ownership in your country and perspective from military service. Because our culture has drifted to self-indulgence over sacrifice, “let someone else do it” is now a comfortable fit in America.
Too many decisions in Washington on the use of force have the calculation of votes involved, and only a few in Congress have military experience. Too bad we elect lawyers instead of veterans.
American sovereignty and security are no longer keystones of military action. We seek the blessing and political cover of the United Nations, an inept and corrupt organization, thereby giving veto power to the Russians and Chinese on the Security Council.
As any warrior anywhere in the world knows, you fight to win with deception and overwhelming force to a quick victory, but we don’t fight wars to win anymore. Not long after the shooting starts we morph into a peacekeeping or nation-building force, turning our troops into targets of insurgents. We force restrictive rules of engagement on our own troops, thereby protecting civilians and increasing our own casualties.
Our enemies no longer fear us. They know there is no need to defeat our military machine. They require only a TV news camera nearby when they start a fight that leaves civilian casualties from American involvement, because what America fears most is bad press.
We no longer conclude hostilities on our own terms. As Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal recently, it is so easy for us to get involved in a war but very difficult to end one. The day American boots hit the ground, there is a rapidly growing list of reasons we cannot leave lest we be blamed for consequences. And so we become entangled in the complexities of culture and history we know little about, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, and in our need for the world to like us, with every wiggle to depart our boots get sucked a little deeper into the mire.
How far we have drifted from Teddy Roosevelt’s notion of “speak softly and carry a big stick.” Since I am a dinosaur, I stand with Roosevelt on striking fear in our enemies’ hearts, earning the trust and respect of our allies, continuing to be kind and generous but prepared to crush the world’s cretins when they provoke us. If overwhelming force isn’t going to end the conflict quickly, like in Afghanistan, maybe we shouldn’t put boots on the ground at all and use instead our considerable technology to hit the enemy from afar.
We have been using our military as a diplomatic arm of the State Department, broadcasting weakness as we bend to world opinion. Our enemies are emboldened, our allies are wary of a timid America and our ability to influence world affairs is diminished.
We don’t give our men and women in uniform the warrior leadership they deserve.
Promotion to the highest level in our military is reward reserved for the politically astute, not the warriors. This reminds me of Army Gen. George Casey’s warnings in the aftermath of the Fort Hood shootings that we must be sensitive to diversity. That sounds harmless enough, but the alleged shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, had outwardly given signs for years of anti-American sentiments, but nobody took action for fear of upsetting the diversity apple cart.
Meanwhile, we have stretched our military beyond thin, exhausting our troops over 10 years of war. As a nation, there is a price to pay. When America has little strength in reserve to handle unexpected threats, the world’s cretins are emboldened to cause trouble. Libya was an unwelcome distraction, and my fingers are crossed the Chinese don’t take advantage of this perfect time to move on Taiwan, never mind the potential for natural disasters on our own shores.
All of these shortcomings are burdens we place on the shoulders of our men and women in uniform. If you know people who serve in the military, ask them about four or five tours in a war zone, what it does to a family, how serving repeatedly in combat changes them even if they return without serious wounds.
We should continue to thank our troops, to applaud them in airports. But they deserve much more from us.
Terry Garlock of Peachtree City was a Cobra helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War.
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