Lip Service Does Not Answer Abuse Of And To Military Service

Deborah Venable

07/05/02

As we continue to celebrate the birthday of America this weekend, we hear references to our past and present military personnel’s sacrifices to secure our freedom. One statistic I noted with interest compares the reaction after Pearl Harbor resulting in a significant increase in voluntary enlistments, with the reaction after the 911 Attack. This did result in an increase of inquiries into military service, but not a significant increase in actual enlistments. Surprised?

Further comparing that the attack on Pearl Harbor was mainly aimed at the military and not civilians, and the death toll was considerably higher in the 911 Attack, we might begin to wonder why the above statistic is not backwards. We might – only if the last fifty-plus years had not transpired in the manner that they have. Only if we had no basis for comparison of society’s view of military service today as compared to yesterday. Only if we had not been made aware of gross abuses by and to our military personnel, both before and especially since World War II.

But we should not wonder given the proof that this society does not view commitment to anything with the same fervor that past societies of Americans did. If citizens of today cannot even commit themselves to belief systems that embrace family values and the lifelong marriages and family building that is the product of that commitment, why should we expect that the children of these broken homes and “alternative lifestyles” know anything about committing to the preservation of America? To those brave young souls that do enlist in the military through a sense of duty, we owe a special debt of gratitude in my humble opinion. For the most part, however, this “gratitude” is only given in the form of lip service by Americans feeling especially patriotic on certain holidays. In the business as usual modern military, we find only a small public outrage at the life-altering abuses some of these service personnel have already suffered or will be mandated to suffer.

Take the issue of the anthrax vaccine for instance. This should not even be an issue, but it is. I understand that military chain of command necessitates the issuance of and compliance to orders to maintain military discipline, but when those orders are issued over something as controversial as mandatory anthrax vaccination with a suspect agent clouded with proven disastrous results, the “chain” is faulty, therefore, the discipline is bogus, and the integrity of the military as a force we can count on is severely jeopardized.

Recently Sierra Times published a story written by Kathy Hubbell, whose son is currently serving in the United States Air Force. It is compelling and should be read and remembered the next time you hear some politician pretending to care about our military personnel. She provides many links in this article. If this one doesn’t get to you, I don’t know what will! This kind of abuse of our military personnel, forcing them into a Catch 22 situation, can no longer be tolerated if we are to preserve any of our freedoms while we go through the motions of a War On Terrorism.

Keep in mind also that according to many state and federal laws, parents are placed in the same sort of Catch 22 situation when they wrestle with the decision of whether or not to allow their children to be injected with the growing number of vaccines against an ever-increasing list of illnesses and diseases. Don’t forget to keep in mind that this issue can always be traced directly back to the pharmaceutical industry that produces the agents being foisted on a society no longer allowed to make an informed decision about risks. It is no accident that this industry provides a large portion of funding to a government that would see us in tyranny.

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