It Never Goes Away
Now and then I find myself without much to do here in Dever,
so I just sit around and think. I ponder
the world, my life, what brought me to where I am and oddly enough American
politics. Even though I now reside in
the land of my ancestors, or at least part of them, the coming American
presidential election leaves me puzzled.
I use to have no trouble deciding who to vote for, but being
involved in a few elections and working on the inside of a political organization
I have come to realize that no one ever really lies, but then again no one
really ever tells the truth. Separating
fact from fiction is very hard to do in politics, and the internet has almost
made it impossible and so hard in fact that those who spin get spun to the
point that they actually start to believe what they espouse.
During the last several elections I have established a
procedure that is true, being tried several times. I pick one thing I know for certain that the candidates
stand for, make sure it is important to me, and then base my vote on that one
single item. Right wrong or indifferent
that is what I do. Now, what about the
upcoming race? Well just follow along
and stick with me.
In the late spring of 1968 I hopped in my car and drove off
to Fort Bennining, Georgia for Basic Training.
My first step that would eventually land me a commission in the United
States Army and in a couple of years send me to Viet Nam I assumed. Only half of which came true.
I had no real desire to go to war nor did I have any real
moral outrage that we were fighting in southeast Asia. I just did not want to go and get shot. If called upon I would go of course, jail or
Canada not being an option. However I
would just as soon go on the best terms I could make for myself and to me being
an officer seemed like a much better idea than being an enlisted man. If for no other reason than I would receive
more money when being shot at, which I assumed was going to happen anyway. The war had no end in sight back then. I had no idea what would transpire that could
possibly keep me out of harms way.
I was in my second year of the advanced part of the Army
ROTC program,( having skipped the first two years due to an accelerated program
offered by the army at that time,) when the draft lottery picked my birthday as
170. If I had not joined the advanced
ROTC program I probably would not have been drafted but I was committed so
didn’t complain about it. I figured I
was still going to have to go to Viet Nam.
It is funny looking back, I never really worried about it much. It was just something you had to do if you
had to. Few of us wanted to go, but we
just resigned ourselves to the fact that we would have to unless we got lucky
some how. Most of us in my small mid west
college really did not understand the war protesters and looked upon them with
amusement or disgust.
After I received my commission I also received a letter a few
months later that said that the Army had too many officers right then and that
my full time service was not needed.
They gave me some options ranging from not doing anything to disputing
the army’s decision and ask them to reconsidered. Well that was a no brainer.
One of the middle options was to join the national guard and
economics won out. I was teaching school
waiting for my orders to come though for my training obligation and making $300
per month and I found out that the Missouri National Guard would pay me $70 a
month. The money sounded good. I joined and walked in the door of the armory
and back out the door 20 plus years later.
I have taken a long time getting to the point of this
narrative and I am not sure I am there yet.
In 1971, there were four kinds of people in the National
Guard. The Full Timers that handled all
the day to day administrative and physical stuff necessary to support a local
guard unit were the main stays. They
were usually career civil servants or state employees and for the most part
former active duty people. Then there
were a few like me that got in the guard almost by accident or default,
recognized the benefits and decided to stay in for awhile. Then there were guys who were discharged from
active duty, sort of liked the military and decided to come back in for the
camaraderie and benefits. The bulk of
the soldiers however were those who were evading the draft.
I know, I know. To
state that the bulk of our reserve and national guard troops back then were a
bunch of draft dodgers is not popular today, but to deny it is selective memory
at its best.
I am sure there was ( but I cannot remember meeting any one,)
those who joined the national guard with out prior service that did not want to
evade the draft. It is different today
of course and today’s reservist and guardsman are top notch and true patriots. But this is now and that was then.
This year’s election will probably be the last one where
what a person did during the Viet Nam era is a factor. Bill Clinton received student deferments and
protested the war, George W. Bush joined the air national guard, Dan Quail was
in the Indiana guard, I believe, Dick Chaney received student and marriage
deferments and said he had better things to do at the time, Kerry went and came
home for reasons that are still unclear, I think Al Gore served as a reporter
or cook or something in the regular army, and of course we all know about and
Senator McCain. Obama was to young, so
was Ryan and I am not sure about Bieden (?sp).
So that leaves Governor Romney.
He is about my age and where did he spend the Viet Nam era? Well if the reports are correct he spent that
time in college and as a missionary of sorts for the Mormon Church in
France. By the time he returned his
draft number might have been high or something like that I am not sure. I am sure if he had been drafted he would
have gone and served with distinction, because those Mormons I have come across
in the military are fine soldiers and actually he seems like an honorable man;
but the fact remains that he could have gone and served his country by putting
himself in harms way but chose not to.
That puts him in the ranks of those like John Wayne; they look good, talk the talk, but never had
to walk the walk. Now you might say
that, “Well, Conley or Snapper, you did about the same thing.” My answer would be ‘well sort of’ but I am not
running for president either, where I would be sending young men and women into
battle and never had the courage, or perhaps desire might be a better word, to
go myself.
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