CR recently mentioned a program called “Carrier” that’s been airing on PBS recently that documents the real lives of the NAVY personnel deployed on the USS Nimitz for a period of six months. I happened to catch the beginning of an episode here in my hotel room in DC, 2 hours later I hadn’t moved from the chair and was completely hooked. This is the most candid, real, in depth look into the true lives of military personnel I have ever seen. The documentary follows a core group of seamen who at varying intervals throughout the program give extremely open and honest interviews about their lives in the Navy. It digs into the don’t ask don’t tell policy in a way that I thought was tasteful and positive. They speak to sailors who are not happy with our current political leadership, those who don’t support the war in Iraq and those who do, and expose both the positive and ugly side of NAVY life as well.
Even though I spent five years in a relationship with a Naval Officer who like these folks, spent many years deployed on ships and submarines in and out of wartime, I never truly grasped or appreciated the job that he did or the circumstances he endured while securing the freedoms I often take for granted. I don’t think I ever thanked him for what he did (and continues to do in the reserves) and this has prompted me to finally mail him that box of Naval awards I inadvertently ended up with after the big D. They have been sitting storage and I think he deserves to have them.
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Whether on a carrier, in Baghdad, in an isolated village in Iraq, or in the poppy fields and mountains of Afganistan, we are at war. Sacrifices are made, including the ultimate sacrifice, every day. But, the sacrifice is being borne by just one segment of our society...the members of our military and their families.
The rest of us continue with our daily activities and pleasures while complaining about high gasoline prices, the housing market,and the economy in general, etc., etc. Too many of us are non-supportive, if not openly contemptuous, of the military that protects us every day, assuring us the right to and the ability to voice such complaints.
Only one or two generations away from the "Greatest Generation" that experienced "victory gardens", an untold number of "Gold Star" households, and the rationing of gasoline, sugar, shoes, and other life "essentials" in order to support the war effort. All the citizenry were asked to make sacrifices, both large and small, to support the members of the military.
Was it Vietnam?... The ending of the draft that ended the long tradition of the citizen soldier?...The radical Sixties?...The replacement of statesmen with career politicians?...The "me generation"?...All of the above?...None of he above?
Whatever the cause or causes, we have developed into a society that is unwilling to make personal sacrifices for our country. Rather, we are dependent on a PBS documentary to show such sacrifices by a designated segment of our society, and we are surprised and amazed that such sacrifice is still necessary and that we have people willing to make such sacrifices on our behalf.
My Uncle James was a career Marine. He fought in the Pacific in WWII. He fought in Korea. He fought in Vietnam. But, I knew him as the gentle soul who ran a small appliance fix-it shop and who kept hard candy in the ashtray of his pickup truck for all the kids. Most of his adult life was one of sacrifice for his country...but he never talked about it. I'm not sure if I ever thanked him before he died. So, although I'm late in saying this, "Thank you, Uncle James...I love you".
What has happened to us?
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