Reply #75: people who wear the uniform

[monicab]

welsh terrier2
I cannot answer this in just a few sentences and I do not want to be short in response to this very good question as I want to make sure that I do not do a disservice to either side of the equation.

I need a small amount of time to think about the best way to answer.

Thanks for a thought provoking question that deserves a well thought out answer.

I will say though, the majority of people that wear the uniform are not on the evil side or the saintly side, I believe that most are somewhere in the middle of that. Although there are elements of both of those things in the military.

And as you say, the image of anti-war people is seen as a group of people that will not defend the country or are weak and scared. I believe that the majority of both groups are in the middle of the extreme.

But if you let me have a little time I will explain my opinion a little better.

Thank you. From Kevin.. But.. I, Monica, would like a chance to respond to this as well.. just please return for Kevin's response. IT WILL BE A GOOD ONE!!!!!!

Kevin and I were married about 3 months before he deployed. We were together about 2 years before that. I have always been against war. My career has been working with the elderly, many of them veterans. I worked at teaching many of my staff members how to resolve conflicts with passively aggressive tactics. The elderly that I cared for taught me that we need to use the wisdom of our aged, and find a better way. War will never solve problems, only create more. I love my husband, but I do not love war.

I can accept anyone for believing in themselves, and for working hard at what they believe. I also was confident that if Kevin were to see combat firsthand, on the basis of many conversations we had, and on what I knew about him, that he would no longer believe that defending his country meant using war as a tactic. I couldn't tell him what to think, but I could watch while he came to what he now believes.

When Kevin left for Iraq, I had a strong sense that he had to go. But I didn't feel that he went to kill, or because he supported killing. I felt, and now firmly believe, that Kevin went to Iraq because he believed, 100%, in his heart and soul, that if he were there he could do a better job of keeping the younger soldiers he supervised safe. Right before he left, he assured me that he was going to see that everyone he went with, that he could be responsible for, would come back home. Kevin worked hard and received Army Commendation medals for his service. On the commendations, he was credited with having learned the duties of all the maintenance crews so that he could help to maintain not only the Bradleys, his original MOS, but also the Abrams tanks, the humvees, and any other vehicles soldiers in his unit used to take to the frontlines. The commendation also stated that Kevin was the ONE MECHANIC ASKED FOR BY NAME BY MORE CREW MEMBERS when they needed assurances that their vehicles were safe. Kevin did what he promised, he kept everyone that he could be responsible for as safe as he could, and he helped to get them back to their families. Kevin will not tell you these stories.. I WILL.

I could not speak out for the war.. I would not. But I supported my husband. I sent him packages, letters.. was available for every phone call.. I listened after he returned. I heard his concern, I saw the conflict, and I knew that he was coming to realize that the best way for him to keep the soldiers he cared about safe was to see that they never went to war again. It was not to return and patch up vehicles that honestly don't have much more usable mileage on them.

Most soldiers that I talk to do not want to return to war. Most soldiers hate war more than anyone else. But we have to give them a chance, and the benefit of hearing what they believe and why. If we can get them talking, maybe we can understand better, and maybe we can then find a way to show them how another way may be better.