The Worth of an Oath

I have struggled recently with the meaning of "supporting our troops" versus questioning the escalation of the war, and I have come to an understanding I am ashamed to say has eluded me for almost forty years.

Among my friends who have served, and lost their limbs, and minds, and more in wars since 1968 to this very day, I have been adverse to not give them every thing, ... everything! I have been angered that they did not receive proper medical care, proper housing, proper VA health benefits, ... and respect to allow themselves self-respect.

And when the ballyhoo about Walter Reed Army Medical Center came to our attention this past week, my ears perked up once again. You see, I used to go to Walter Reed and Bethesda Naval as part of my many jobs, ... and as long ago as 35 years, there were long lines of our enlisted, waiting in the outpatient areas to be seen, to be treated, perhaps to be cured. That on top of the lengthy wait they should return to sub-standard housing, ... then to return day after day, or wait month after month for an opportunity to be treated at all, is more than I can imagine.

I received a deferment for college in the 60's and 70's, ... no different than many. No special consideration, ... just a college kid, ... then a high number in the draft lottery. I worked in hospital work every weekend, beside Army docs in a civilian setting, ... with GI's working at my side as security guards, in a community hospital near an Army base hospital.

And all of that, so many years later, has come home to help me understand why the privatization of the military, and the care of our soldiers, and the preservation of balance between civilian values and the requirement for a civilian military are at the very heart of our Republic.

A corporation is a most self-interested beast. It exists and persists out of a devouring appetite for its competitors and its own young. Efficiency and profit are all it is about. It does not care for continuity, for tomorrow it might sell out to the highest bidder, ... indeed it will! It is its birthright, its edict. It is its only law of survival, even when it is a monopoly. It is the most blind of beasts for it has no past, and aspires to no future. The closing bell is its call to dinner, and the quarterly returns are its only aspiration.

In the age of Halliburton's monopolization of military services, I am wont to distinguish my admiration for the military, the grunt private still wearing out the initial starch of his uniform issued Stateside just last week, and the Lance Corporal in Anbar Province who has not seen a fresh shower in three weeks. Oh, ... did I leave out the shiny silk-suited KBR Corporati in Suburban DC? Yeah, ... I think we all do.

Therein lies the difference! I love the kids in khakis, and I would carry soup to the front line for them, and will when the need arises. But those kids, and their elder commanders all took an oath on my behalf, and my kids, ... and my grandkids. The muscular and devoted Marine Lance Corporal that I have seen grow from a kid to a beloved killing Marine machine still had to promise to take care of America, ... from the get go. Before we handed him a pair of socks and boots, he swore to take care of you and me, ... and America.

Ah, lets ask ourselves what Halliburton, the Corporation has sworn to do on our behalves, ... no We will go there another day. For now, ... let me only say that there is nothing that Halliburton or KBR will do for America before it takes care of its shareholders, ... and my guess is that there is nothing it will do for its shareholders before it takes care of its officers.

Therein lies the difference, my fellow Americans. I'd choose a kid who swears allegiance to the Constitution any day over a corporate type who promises a profit to shareholders foreign or domestic. And is that not, after the last contract signed, the sole difference? Isn't it Mr. Cheney?

A soldier who pledges his solemn honor to defend the United States is a sure as hell better bet than a corporation that promises its shareholders a bigger cut of the pie. Sorry Dick, ... I'll bet on the Lance Corporal I know than the Veep I distrust as a corporate shill anytime.

And in the end, it might just be that I trust an honest kid with a rifle more than I trust a shaky old fart with a shotgun! Sorry, Dick