Questions of War

“No Anwers but Many Questions.”

"It's a serious piece. I hope you like it. Feel free to comment. "

When I read on Julia's Red Sox blog about D-Day, it made me realize that the first thought that anyone paints on that canvas, is a memory of the soldier. I have never personally fought in a war nor have I joined the service. I was born in the era of the volunteer army. Oh I've known people who have gone into the service, but have never had that duty bestowed upon me. It has got me thinking – what is a soldier and how should I feel about a soldier. Let me explain.

That question first encountered an answer when I visited the Yankee Air Museum in Michigan. It was, at the time, a fairly run down establishment, sponsored entirely by war veterans, who worked hard to preserve the air history of war. They were great people and still are even if the museum no longer exists.

I remember walking to a volunteer. I had to ask him a question which I always wanted to ask. I asked him simply, “I have never fought in a war. What is a soldier, a hero, a survivor, both, neither. Help me understand.”

It was a bold question. He looked uncomfortable at the question. His head immediately turned direction. I don't blame him. In retrospect, perhaps it was an inappropriate question to ask. I don't know.

His answer thought surprised me. It was a humble and honest response. I was grateful for that integrity. He said that he was happy to be alive and out of that war. He didn't feel himself a hero but rather a man wanting to stay alive in impossible conditions. I knew he was a pilot. I knew he fought in World War II. I left it at that.

I suppose I could also ask my immediate family but outside my Uncle, nobody else fought in the wars. My father stated he was 4F due to his feet. My Uncle often told more heroic fantasies than realities. His stories had the color and energy of any John Wayne film. He once told me he cut a man's arm off with a small pocket knife. It originally was a large saw and then a kitchen knife, but in fairness, he liked to change the palette once in a while.

Years ago, while camping with my wife, I met an Iraq veteran (first Iraq war). He told me he was glad to be home. I asked him what it was like. He stated that “when you're crawling on the ground with planes shooting at you from above, it changes you.” I asked him what that meant. He related how he felt life was something that was a given. Only when he fought that battle did he realize just how precarious and inaccurate those assumptions were.

I read a book once about a National guard soldier. It didn't do well in sales. I knew that because the author, whom I contacted, told me so. I wanted to talk to him to thank him for the book. It gave me a very accurate insight into life in basic training and as a National Guard soldier. He also fought in the first Iraq war. The perspective I got was how glad he was to be alive. He also stated that basic training was hell but was later glad for it because it saved his life in the Iraq War.

Over and over again, I get that idea from those who fought in wars. In watching Band Of Brothers, the HBO mini-series, and hearing the accounts of the real life soldiers who were portrayed in that documentary, I got that feeling as well. Glad to be alive and still grieving over the horrors of fighting that war.

That made me finally ask a simple question. On each Veterans Day and each Memorial Day and on each D-Day, we always remind ourselves of the soldiers as well we should. But do we ask about the war itself. War is horrible, frightening, scary. All those ideas come into my head. Is war necessary, absolute and required? Is it something that has to happen to keep everyone in line?

I remember someone after September 11^th stating that we should do genocide on every Arab country in the world. Nuke them all out. Others go the opposite extreme stating that war is utterly foolish and pointless. What's the right answer?

A person I met who worked for the U.N. Told me that “each time the word war is mentioned to a General, they get knots in their stomach. They hate war.”

But hating war and being glad to be alive doesn't necessarily mean we shouldn't fight wars, but I believe it does mean we need to ask some hard questions.

Is any war a good idea or a horrible consequence? It is part of who we are? Why must we fight this war? How many must die to win this war? What is the real cost of a war? Are we doing the right thing? Does war indicate our strengths or our weaknesses? Is war simply good vs. evil or is it much more than that? Are we making the right decision? What is the true cost of a war?

I have no such conclusion to those questions, but I do believe these questions, among many others, must be asked every time we signal the call to arms. War is not trivial and often times, only in its aftermath do we begin to understand what we have done.

Perhaps I can quote a military man who was a consultant for the movie “When We Were Soldiers.” He said to 60 Minutes reporter Steve Kroft, “respect the soldier, hate war. You understand?“

What's the point of the article? It's really about questioning the obvious -- do we need war? I have no answers for that. I wish I did.