Note 2

Vietnam Vet Status

If I am honest with myself, I feel that I am a Vietnam War Veteran; one of the unrecognized Vietnam Veterans -- "unrecognized" because I was a civilian.

First an foremost I, as an opponent to the U.S. participation in the Vietnam War, was subjected to the ridicule of conservative factions in my own country which threatened my life at their hands.

Second, while I protested against the war, I did so peacefully and respectfully – unlike many around me. This did not change my first point; that I was treated like the enemy.

Third, while I was prepared to serve in the military in combat, in opposition to my will, but in accordance with my conscience, this never happened, and it was never accredited to me by my country, and was in fact, much more often held against me.

Fourth, the entire experience irrevocably changed my life, in traumatic ways, which led to a lasting PTSD manifest in my personality and how my life unfolded.

Fifth, the ultimate result is that I have never been able to feel a “loyalty” to my country, at least not to its government. I do, however, maintain a strong loyalty to what it has the potential to become; that is to our progeny.

It is so ironic that we bestow paltry little honors on our military men and women, while never really acknowledging what their function actually is. Their function could be so much more than what it "actually" is acknowledged to be in reality. 

Their function could and should be honor, valor, and duty to the constitution, and respect for values in service of their country (all the country), as opposed to that of any individual. This has long been the primary stance of our military, as opposed to aberrant stances too often espoused today.

Sadly, attempts, weak and ineffective, are occasionally made to develop it in other directions; to make the focus individuals or internal, politically motivated missions, rather than that of our country. All too often, attempts are made to make the function about the wrong thing; usually by forces within, but recently by forces without.

Yet in the end it depends on who is in power, whether it will be a means of keeping peace among the countries of the world, which tends to our benefit, versus imposing our will on other countries in the world -- or our own politician's will on our country's citizens!

Sixth, sadly this has all stayed with me, so while I can see why the military exists, I do not respect it, even at its best, because (a) it is respected for the best it can do, yet maintained for the worst it has to offer, and it is usually the worst that ultimately is nourished most, at least among our citizenry. And (b) it belittles non-military participation in the civic life of our country.

Today, our military is being remolded in an attempt to support us as an isolationist "banana republic" in support, in turn, of a person rather than of a principle. Control by factions within the military is being encouraged, as structure that supports loyalty to an individual rather than to honor and duty. This is a military structure that is common to all dictatorial governments that have ever existed.

My Conscientious Objector spirituality remains, and while I feel the spirit it represents is largely ignored in our country's culture, at its core can be found the best that we as a country have to offer the world – despite the fact that the Donald Trump administration is, as I write this, attempting to shred it via his policies of dismantling John F. Kennedy's USAID which was a continuation of the Marshall Plan, Kennedy's Peace Corps, and DEI (“diversity, equity and inclusion”; and in mobilizing the military against its own countrymen and women, among many other things.

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What we face today is perhaps the greatest, or at least one of the top two, crises the United States has ever faced; the other being the mid-19th century political embrace of the doctrine of Manifest Destiny, which resulted in our use of the military to steal major tracts of land from a less powerful neighbor, Mexico, and in the subjugation and ensuing mistreatment (which would today be called criminal) of the American Indians in the Indian wars.

In terms of ideals, I oppose, as manifest in our world, communism, socialism & capitalism, totalitarianism & dictatorship, imperialism & colonialism, Catholicism & Protestantism; religion -- especially in terms of doctrine & dogma as opposed to structure. 

I support democracy; caring & spiritual devotion as well as the desire to understand what my, (and other's, religions are in reality, which involves endless self-criticism, without being an end unto itself; and active effort to improve our world, both physically; spiritually, with a focused approach to doing the latter; and cooperation and cooperation & reconciliation as opposed to conflict.

Conceding that any given group can make a good point, does not equate to |cafeteria" anything. Understanding each other, embracing each other, and allowing each to change the other in some ways,  are integral parts of being a peacemaker. We are not each Jesus (or Buddha, or Vishnu, etc.) but we are imperfect extensions of Him (or them). This applies even to priests.

I can be Catholic or Episcopalian, or Baptist for that matter, without worshiping the idol of Catholic Culture, or Episcopal Culture, or Baptist Culture. I can study, and even embrace, the doctrines and dogmas espoused by various religions, without idolizing those doctrines and dogmas. I would include in that all the various economic and political doctrines and dogmas. All of that is idolizing those entities, positions, doctrines, and dogmas. The idol-aspect of any given thing is what I think it to be, not what it actually is.

Some say that last point is untenable because obstinate parties will refuse to abandon their stance in even the smallest way. I say to such an argument that nothing should ever be about "them," but rather it is always about "me" or "us". Sometimes it is up to "me" or "us" to teach "them" by our example, albeit sometimes by our provisional example. It is always about working with them, not against them.

Being staunchly one thing and not another can be, in itself, dictatorial and totalitarian.  

The military is important, but make no mistake, it is very dangerous, both to our neighbors and to ourselves, if it is not kept in control and operated by a compassionate, wise, and caring country. We need the capacity to defend ourselves when the obstinate turn murderous, but only to defend ourselves. Yet we need to also defend ourselves from turning from the obstinate to the murderous, which can happen all too easily. It is a very difficult path to follow, yet following it is a spiritual necessity. Not following it is what too often populates cemeteries. 

--MF, 2025-04-28 9:00 AM. Revised  (or "clarified") 2025-05-26 9:00 AM.  

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