My Son, a U.S. Marine
Barack Obama is not the first black man for whom I've voted for President of the United States. In 1968, I voted for someone who was running against Republican Richard Nixon and Democrat Hubert Humphrey. His name was Eldridge Cleaver, the Peace and Freedom Party candidate. It was during the Vietnam War and I felt compelled to cast a protest vote.
I also protested the war by working for Medical Aid for Indochina. We helped rebuild a wing of the Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, bombed by Nixon and Kissinger in Christmas of 1972. I even met with a pregnant Jane Fonda while she was still married to Tom Hayden, one of the Chicago Seven. I was never disrespectful to soldiers returning from Vietnam. But I never went out of my way to thank them or show them any courtesy for their service. I was young and insensitive.
Even though my radical liberalism has softened over the years, I've never come close to voting Republican. So I was rather stunned when my then 17-year-old son suddenly announced that he wanted to join the Marines. In his somewhat hard-scrabble high school in Cambridge, MA (whose alumni include Patrick Ewing, Ben Affleck, and Matt Damon), my son was an anomaly. He was the only student who stood and pledged allegiance to the flag at the start of every school day. He didn't care what his peers thought and yet he somehow managed to remain extremely well liked. And he wasn't happy about the book I wrote about Jack Abramoff, rushed into print weeks before last year's presidential election, because I was critical of Sen. John McCain, a war hero.
Years earlier, in July 2001, I took my then nine-year-old son to the observation deck atop one of the World Trade Center towers. For some reason he took a liking to those twin buildings and even carried a couple of photographs of them in his wallet. Less than three months later, we drove back to New York City on the Saturday after the terrorist attacks, so we could witness history. No cars were permitted south of Houston Street. We walked for many blocks until we came to within a hundred feet of where the remains of the Twin Towers were still smoldering and a large shard of the façade, tilting precariously, was still standing.
Years later, my son told me that on that trip he decided to join the Marines so he could "kill terrorists."
Last February, he graduated from high school a semester early, and two weeks before his 18th birthday, he flew off to Parris Island in South Carolina, the Marine Corps' East Coast training center. Somehow, he survived the grueling 13-week dehumanization ordeal called boot camp.
In early May, I attended his graduation and was surprised at how much I was moved by the talented Marine Corps Marching Band, which played several well-known martial songs. I found myself impressed by all the militaristic pomp and circumstance. I was moved by seeing my son marching and shouting robotically as a member of the U. S. Armed Forces.
Up to this point I had been utterly oblivious to -- and somewhat disdainful of -- all matters related to the military. I was a veteran of the Vietnam War protest era and immersed in the parochial world of liberal Cambridge, Massachusetts.
At the end of my son's 10-day home leave after boot-camp graduation, I drove him back to Logan Airport. He was in uniform. He was flying down to Camp Geiger in North Carolina for Marine Combat Training, which includes the art of throwing grenades and firing 50-caliber machine guns. After handing off his four heavy bags to the curbside skycap, I slipped my son $10 and told him to tip the man. The skycap -- a black man, much of whose income comes from gratuities -- declined to accept it.
The skycap isn't the only one. The airlines do not charge any member of the armed forces for checked baggage. Many stores give active members of the military steep discounts on merchandise. Whenever the police stop my son for some minor driving infraction, they invariably give him a warning. As I said, I'd been utterly oblivious of this culture.
Several weeks later, I even went down to Camp Geiger for his graduation. After the ceremony, he introduced me to his bunkmate, a fine-looking 21-year-old man from Portland, Maine.
Recently, my son received his first assignment and to my great relief will not be deployed ... at least for the next two years. He is stationed in Washington D.C. In August, I visited him there at the Marine Barracks parade grounds to watch the Silent Drill Platoon. (Twenty-four Marines silently and precisely spin their rifles in synchronized high speed. The team's exhibition appears in the opening scene of the movie, A Few Good Men, and was featured in a Marine recruitment TV ad campaign last year.)
The parade ground was awash with handsome, fit, and extremely polite young men and women in their Marine dress blues. Displayed on their chests were gold medals, representing their career accomplishments, including deployment in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. I was somewhat taken aback that so many of them had been deployed three, four, even five times. I couldn't help but peer into their eyes and see my son's. I couldn't help but wonder what their parents had endured during those deployments.
I'm opposed to the war in Iraq. As despicable as Saddam Hussein was, he had nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. And I'm ambivalent about the war in Afghanistan. As despicable as the Taliban is, we would have never invaded Afghanistan were it not for their harboring Osama bin Laden.
About two weeks ago, my son learned that his bunkmate at Camp Geiger was killed in action in Afghanistan. (The decision by the Associated Press to release a photo of this young Marine as he lay dying -- against the wishes of his parents -- sparked considerable controversy.) My son told me -- and I knew this was coming -- that because of his bunkmate's death, he now feels even more compelled to raise his hand and volunteer for deployment.
If I could turn back the clock, there is something I would do differently. No, I wouldn't go back and cancel that trip to NYC four days after the 9/11 attacks. I would go back to the late 60s and early 70s, and I would welcome home those returning soldiers from Vietnam with the respect and courtesy they deserved. I may not have agreed with the war in which they were fighting, but I certainly would have let them know how much I appreciated their devotion, service, and bravery.
I am sorry I lacked the good sense of that Logan Airport skycap.
Gary S. Chafetz is the author of The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
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As bad as a draft is at least it makes it difficult for a President to get us into, and keep us in an endless war that the people don't support. If we had a draft today the people out protesting the wars would be the helicopter parents of todays young people. As long as 100% of the burden is carried by 1% of the people it may never end.
A fine article and a fine son.
If we end the wars then your son and all of the other sons and daughters will be safe. I fully appreciate their courage and honor. BUT if we love them and want to keep them safe we will bring all of them home. We are just repeating the same mistakes that the Russians and The Brits did, and we ar trying to make something happen that cannot happen when imposed from without. It is so sad and so tragic, but wanting something and wishing for something and dying for something doesn't make it so. Before all of you (you must hate our troops) folks attack me, my father was US Army and I was a GI brat.
Thank you to your son and to all the men and women who serve. Yes, we all don't support the war but still support the troops.Tha
I pray your son is never deployed on behalf of the people whose land he would be standing on. Revenge is not a virtue.
Old men keep coming up with new ways to have our best and brightests give their full measure of devotion, but we cannot reproach those patriots who are willing to do so in the belief that they are putting their lives on the line for America. I loved your article, almost brought tears to my eyes. You are right -- we may be opposed to the war(s), but our brave men and women still deserve our respect, admiration and great appreciation for their willingness to step up for America.
Well said. Sure hope many on this website find it a reason to do some genuine reflection.
well said.
Aggreed,
Semper Fidelis
I was in uniform from 1968 - 1978 while a midshipman and active duty naval officer. I remember while in uniform sometimes getting hard or contemptuous looks from people in school and when out in public due to the anti-Vietnam war sentiment that was building in the late 60s until the cease fire in 1972..
I do not hold hard feelings against them and feel that the atmosphere and regard that military are held today is appropriate, however, I would also caution against going too far the other way and accepting without reservation the way that our military is used today to excessively project power and intervene in other countries' affairs.
Our new-found glorification of the military in this so-called long-war on terror is disturbing. We desperately need leaders that question whether the rubber-stamping of ever-increasing military budgets and the persistent and growing footprints (bases and air fields) of our military is in the long-run beneficial to our real security.
I submit that reallocating resources to our pressing domestic problems of health and education as well as shoring up the dismal employment picture is desperately needed. We have enough soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines for our true military security. What we don't need is the continued empire building that is going on.
Not surprising that those of us that came of age during the Vietnam era were not all that different than our peers outside the military. Some of us out grew those philosophies, some did not. To his credit the author had an epiphany.
yes he had epiphany - how many far right show the same epiphany? We must all see the value in every human life. If we could do this maybe unnessary war would not occur.
I also protested while in high school and actually got tear gasses by the Chicago cops once. But got a very low draft number in 1971, and instead of going to Canada, I went into the Navy. Spent 72-75 off the coast of Vietnam and came home a very confused young man. So I drank till 1982 and then realized that the only people I liked were military men and women, so I reenlisted and stayed till 1997. Yea, the sevicemen/women are the best, and only we know it. But being on both sides of the protest movement, I always understood that you never really hated us, you hated the leadership (pentagon), who put us in that mess. My issue now, is the treatment of our capitalist system towards our servicemen/women. We need to reward time served with college credits. I am still climbing ladders because the 20 years was not the same as 4 years of college. If you want to make a difference use your contacts to make congress rethink military careers as equal training to 4 years of college. The enlisted personnel will thank you......o
What a wonderful article. I am so glad to hear that there is someone out there who is mature enough to be able to disagree without disrespect. Reflection is a good thing and the ability to admit misteps is as well. I am on the opposite end of the political spectrum as you I would assume, but I wish that both the left and right could be as resposible and respectful in their differences as you have learn to become. God bless your son, he is a true patriot and hero.
God keep your son safe. I know how you feel. I never would have chosen for my daughter to join the Navy or my son to join the Army, but they did. And I'm very proud of them.
Your son is following his own path. Who is to say it is not the correct one for him? None of us can say that.
Best piece I've read on this site. Nice work. I've never understood that whole spitting on returning servicemen thing from the 60s and 70s. But I have no problem with the Bushes and the Rumsfelds of the world ducking shoes and enduring chants of "here comes the war criminal!" for the rest of their days.
All best to your son.
I'm sorry to hear that your brave son chooses war as a solution to terrorism, and has put himself into the never ending war machine that has ruined so many lives. I hope he never sees the true horror of war in person and comes home to you an unharmed young man. Too many young people have already died. I have never attacked vets for their service, just the military industrial complex, and the cowardly politicians who believe in war but rarely fight in one. The best thing anyone can do for vets is make sure that we fight fewer wars. The next best thing is to fully fund the G. I. Bill, and take care of these young people when they get home. We are not protecting our freedoms by killing people in Iraq and elsewhere. This is a lie sold to us by those whose only tool is violence, and when that doesn't work, more violence. Again, I hope your son comes home unharmed. There is too much tragedy as it is. We should send all the middle aged men to fight wars, not these young people, many of whom never have a chance to live a full life.
John
"I'm sorry to hear that your brave son chooses war as a solution to terrorism". Yea know John, sometimes you really do have to kill bad people who deserve to die. I don't know what your solution to terrorism is, but talking isn't really going to work.
Rummy really screwed the pooch though, and now we can not win. It is best to get out, and let the CIA/Special Forces take over and run covert ops. We really just need to kill the leaders, and once they are gone, their troops will go home and raise poppies. Door to door, and ground ops just isn't necessary. This vast "never ending war machine" is very capable of killing from a distance. Bring them all home.
Terrorism is a very small part of all the death and destruction we face as human beings yet it gets a horribly disproportionate amount of attention. The whole concept of stopping terrorism is plain stupid unless it involves dialing back our involvement in squandering oil, dictating to other countries, worshiping some monsters while treating others as friends. The endless military aggression that we promote has something to do with terrorism. Why do we have military bases in over 100 countries?
If you want to kill all the people that you think deserve to die, you are in for perpetual war, with all its death and destruction. 3000 people died on 9/11. How many have died or had their lives ruined since then because of our inept reaction? 100s of thousands?
The concept that we must fight them over there....e
John
Gary
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The next time you call or e-mail your Son, Please thank him for his service to United States of America and his dedication to the United States Marine Corps.
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Your son is a different man now, an United States Marine. An American Fighting Man ready to protect our freedoms that we as Americans hold so dear.
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Take some time to study the history of the U.S.M.C., as it will make for some interesting discussions in the future.
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R/ PRONESE
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