Memorial Day as Any Other Day

[mishalak]

Militaries in general bring up a lot of conflicting emotions in me. The way the soldiers are exalted is deserved, undeserved, the proper thing to do, and gets right up my nose. Having a group of men who will go off to fight other groups of men is a necessity and makes the lives civilians lead possible. Yet I can't rid myself of the disquieting feelings about the way the soldiers view civilians and how close it seems that they are to being our masters rather than our brothers in arms.

An army is the sharp end that makes governments dangerous.

The military is a huge institution in this country and as such there are good, bad, and every degree and variation in between. Since I'm not a politician I don't need to stump for votes by cloaking myself in patriotic colors by praising to the heavens all people who served in the armed forces. Instead I hope that I treat each individual with as much respect as he or she deserves for their service to our society, military or not. On this or any other day.

Comments

[rautenkranzmt.livejournal.com]

Personally, as a soldier, I have always thought of myself as beholden, near a servant to the public. I go to fight, and maybe die, to protect their rights. As such, true, I must give up a few of mine. I cannot quit this job, I cannot engage in certain acts that I would otherwise love to engage in, and I can't just go all out and grow a beard, or let my hair be long.

But, in the end, I find that serving the people of this great country (and yes, it is great, no matter how much the politicians screw it up) is worth the sacrifice on my part.

It is an honor to serve.

[gomeza.livejournal.com]

Most of the military personnel I've met view civilians as their masters, and rightly so.

I've heard that most military personnel are being taught to refer to all civilians as "sir" or "ma'am" as if outranked by them. That wasn't the case when I was in, however, only VIPs like members of government like congresscritters, etc.

[rautenkranzmt.livejournal.com]

I was raised to always refer to my elders as "sir" and "ma'am", as a sign of respect. Military training only encouraged that.

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

I was raised that way too. Though I most often use it in commerce interactions, like calling someone on the phone whom I don't already know.

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

I hope I don't go too far wrong treating individuals with respect. And it is somewhat comforting to know people like you and my father though I still feel funny about the service because of some people I've met. Just have to keep it in my head that there are good and bad apples in every group.