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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > May > 31
Monday, May 31, 2010
Editorial: Current wars too easy to forget about
Last week — May 25, to be specific — a newspaper article noted this turn of events in the country’s two wars:
“For the first time since the United States led the invasion of Baghdad during the Bush administration in 2003, there were more American troops deployed to Afghanistan than Iraq — 94,000 compared with 92,000.”
By late summer, the number of military personnel in Afghanistan is expected to climb to 98,000. Meanwhile, in Iraq, the plan is to reduce the troops there to 50,000 by the end of summer, with a complete exit at the end of next year.
The numbers underscore how long these wars have been — and how few Americans are actually bearing the real sacrifices. The latter is a point worth remembering on Memorial Day, 2010.
In a recent speech sending off some of the 101st Airborne to Kandahar from Ft. Campbell, Ky., Army Maj. Gen. John Campbell mixed inspiration with prediction saying, “Twenty years from now, you’re going to be sitting in a rocking chair someplace thinking about what you did in 2010 and 2011. You can puff up your chests and say, ‘I was in Afghanistan. I was there when Afghanistan turned.’ ”
Then he reminded them of the numbers, “You guys are part of a minority. One-half of 1 percent of our nation is doing what you’re doing. You’ve got to feel pretty good about that.”
We should all wonder. Do the people doing the fighting feel privileged and called? Or are there times when they ask themselves whether anyone really understands or cares about the risks they’re taking, the sacrifices they’re making?
Even if that’s not how trained warriors let themselves think, certainly some in their families ask the questions. Especially if their loved one has given his or her all, or has come home injured or changed for the worse for life.
The country has been in wars which affected virtually everyone: the Civil War, the world wars, Vietnam.
Vietnam, which saw more than a half million Americans in-country at one time, was the last war that entailed a draft, shaping the life decisions of a generation. And, because of enormous public controversy, Vietnam never faded from consciousness.
Today several generations have really never known war in this way or lived through the heartbreak it brings. To them, it’s history, a very sad book or movie. That’s surely a blessing, but it’s also dangerous if too few really understand the dimensions and tragedy of conflict.
Other generations, of course, are not so lucky. They have not forgotten what it means to be a Gold Star mother, to grow victory gardens, to worry about the effects of Agent Orange, to understand why you never wanted to get a letter beginning, “Greetings.”
For the latter, Memorial Day is much more than a three-day weekend and the start of summer.
And that’s also true for the tiny minority that are — today and tomorrow — in some far-flung terrifying place, maybe even unaware that it’s a holiday back home for the people already on holiday from war.
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