I've never been much of a fighter. I got into my first physical altercation a little over a month ago when some troglodyte thought I was throwing firecrackers at him. Long story short, I cracked him and his friend a few times in the face and returned home feeling like Douglas MacArthur splashing back onto the Philippines.
To go to war, however, is quite different than an afterbar fistfight. I feel very proud to be an American'this country by its very nature has offered me opportunities kids in other parts of the world could never imagine. Hanging a flag or donating blood'these displays of solidarity and patriotism I am capable of. But to die, to cease my existence in order to eliminate the abstract principle of terror'or 'terra,' as President Bush and apparently much of the American South calls it'is a concept that I have yet to embrace fully.
I know what you're thinking. It would take a congressional action to reinstitute the Military Selective Service Act. Some have even suggested in the pages of this newspaper that it would require an adversary the size of China to bring back the military draft. At this point in the conflict, the talk is of depending heavily on the military's special forces, so why should young adults worry at all about being thrust into combat?
I know it's the cynic in me, but I worry about the draft happening again. In fall 1961, who knew that those few hundred special forces sent to Indochina would balloon into what would become our Vietnam conflict? How can we be so sure that the forbidding Afghan terrain and the heartiness of the Afghan warrior won't push us into a prolonged and costly military conflict? The Soviets, historically not known for weakness under fire, invaded Afghanistan in 1979 and walked out a little under 10 years later with their tail between their legs and 15,000 dead soldiers.
Many are currently trumpeting the benefits of having 1.4 million men and women in our 'active components' of the military. Hopefully the draft won't be necessary. But our generation has never even been confronted, even remotely, with the possibility of war.
Even the slight prospect of military struggle has awakened a great many of our generation. There is an upside to this, however muddy it may be. Patriotism, as of late relegated to the banquet halls inside American Legion outposts, is making a comeback. Kids these days are beginning to realize what America means, beyond their PlayStations and Snack Packs.
Along with this, we are confronted with the big question, a question of mortality: Would we die to protect our country, our way of life, our freedoms? I'm sure we would all like to say yes.
Our grandparents made that hefty sacrifice. Many of our parents' generation did, too. Why should we be any different? Our generation has reaped the benefits of this nation's unbridled opportunity as much as any in the past.
This concept of generational awakening is not new to our great country. Many of our parents were born and raised in the solitude of the white picket fence, apple-pie 1950s. As the conflict in Vietnam grew progressively larger, more and more dissent emerged. The 'movement,' as it was, grew larger with the rise of the Students for a Democratic Society and its bastard son, the Weathermen. Will we be privy to the same cultural expressions that are unique to times of crisis? Will we finally have our Woodstock, our Monterey, our Days of Rage? We now see a nation united against the 'evildoers,' but as history dictates, we may go the route of increased division and cultural warfare. It could happen.
These are concerns we must consider in spite of our zeal for blood and the head of Osama bin Laden. We must never diminish the memory of the innocent thousands who died Sept. 11 at the hands of a sick and twisted few. But war takes a toll on a nation, not only in the form of a physical death toll on the front lines, but also here at home in the United States and back in Wisconsin. We are the new generation of apprehensive patriots, like our parents before us, fully aware of the bounty of this country, but also looking out for our own personal well being.
I guess we're finally realizing that war really is hell, as a wiser man than I once observed.
