Medic Graduation-political rant-RAYOR
One of our reasons for being in this area was to visit with Don’s grandson who has been doing his Army Medic training at Fort Sam Houston here in San Antonio. We have had many happy times with him and fed him a lot of food, always first on his list of things to do.
Yesterday was his graduation day, and we got up early to drive to San Antonio. The ceremony was held in the NCO’s hall, and had well considered remarks by various dignitaries, including words of praise for the family support that we had all provided. We are very proud of him, he graduated with honors.
I should back up here and say that I am no big fan of the military. In my lifetime, the wars fought seem to have been a mistake to begin with and badly done, and I see the current business in Iraq and Afghanistan to be more of the same. As a high school teacher, it was often hard to support my students who entered the military, but for many it was the only way to get free education, or to get out of town. I honor those who serve. The folks who are in charge are another matter, and my low opinion of the military hierarchy gained no altitude yesterday.
It has been a tedious matter to find out when there is a release time for him, often he didn’t know until the last minute if he would have any time at all. I guess keeping them on their obedient toes is part of the training process, but it is irritating.
Yesterday, the powers at Fort Sam Houston achieved a new level of what looked to me like purposeful sadism. The kids were told that after they cleaned out the barracks, they would be given release time in the afternoon to visit with their families. The graduation was over by 10:30, and we hung around all day, hearing that at such a time there was a formation and then they would be released, no maybe at 4:00, no maybe…... Since he is part of a special group who have been selected for Airborne training, and their departure time was up in the air, ranging from 3-4 weeks to 5 days, that group kind of fell through the cracks. By the time all the others had left at 5:00, we still did not have a release time. We gave up, drove off, only to get a call they would be released in 15 minutes. So we turned around, went back and waited another hour. Several parents had flown in for this and we all were getting very angry, as were the graduates. The kids all got put on grounds clean-up then. One lady from CA lost her temper when we were told loudly that we had to leave the area by one of the Drill Sgts. She got all over them for leaving us waiting all this time. The grandson was very upset and frustrated by this time, and having waited all day, we got to take him over to the on-base Burger King for 45 minutes.
It felt as though the way high ups were making an effort to have this ceremony more like a school graduation, a kinder, gentler army. Those in charge on the ground were not OK with this, and, as far as I could tell, did everything they could to torture both the kids and the parents. I understand that this is not summer camp, nor college, but having invited us here, why behave this way? And as an unspoken under current to all this was my feeling that they were sending these kids off to possibly be killed and couldn’t even summon up enough manners to be polite to their families for an afternoon.
I wish I had had the nerve to make a scene, but it would probably have backfired onto the kids. I may write a letter, but after Don gave the company commander a piece of his mind and heard that even he was getting in trouble for being lenient with the graduates, I realize that the culture of the military has no interest in what civilians might think. It seems that we are sub human, rather weak, and have no understanding of the serious business of war.
It’s serious business all right. I am horrified by the amount of money spent on this war. Horrified by the amount of money that certain well-connected US companies are making on this war. Horrified by the number of young Americans killed and wounded, and by the number of non-combatants killed and wounded. How is this protecting our freedom? The gumment is tapping our phones, instituting a national ID card, and who knows what other “freedoms” are being chewed away at, while public education fails our children and millions are denied health care.
While I am sputtering away here, full of righteous indignation and slightly pinkish peacenik thoughts, the grandson is getting his marching orders for Ft. Benning in GA where he will learn how to jump out of an airplane to aid the fallen wherever they lie. Although he doesn’t enjoy the obedience training, he is enthusiastic about the army and about jumping out of airplanes, and helping the wounded. His nickname at boot camp was X-box, a type of computer game box, and he is a serious devotee of gaming, including the shoot-em-up types. In those games, monsters, mutants, robots, and bad humans are blown away in sheets of gunfire and explosives, with blood and shouting. Back in some nervous, suspicious corner of my brain, I wonder if the realities of the battlefield will come as a terrifying and heartbreaking awakening. The move from the protected fantasy world of childhood toward the less rosy grown up world is never easy, and he has already demonstrated courage and strength, so he will undoubtedly do just fine.
Yesterday was his graduation day, and we got up early to drive to San Antonio. The ceremony was held in the NCO’s hall, and had well considered remarks by various dignitaries, including words of praise for the family support that we had all provided. We are very proud of him, he graduated with honors.
I should back up here and say that I am no big fan of the military. In my lifetime, the wars fought seem to have been a mistake to begin with and badly done, and I see the current business in Iraq and Afghanistan to be more of the same. As a high school teacher, it was often hard to support my students who entered the military, but for many it was the only way to get free education, or to get out of town. I honor those who serve. The folks who are in charge are another matter, and my low opinion of the military hierarchy gained no altitude yesterday.
It has been a tedious matter to find out when there is a release time for him, often he didn’t know until the last minute if he would have any time at all. I guess keeping them on their obedient toes is part of the training process, but it is irritating.
Yesterday, the powers at Fort Sam Houston achieved a new level of what looked to me like purposeful sadism. The kids were told that after they cleaned out the barracks, they would be given release time in the afternoon to visit with their families. The graduation was over by 10:30, and we hung around all day, hearing that at such a time there was a formation and then they would be released, no maybe at 4:00, no maybe…... Since he is part of a special group who have been selected for Airborne training, and their departure time was up in the air, ranging from 3-4 weeks to 5 days, that group kind of fell through the cracks. By the time all the others had left at 5:00, we still did not have a release time. We gave up, drove off, only to get a call they would be released in 15 minutes. So we turned around, went back and waited another hour. Several parents had flown in for this and we all were getting very angry, as were the graduates. The kids all got put on grounds clean-up then. One lady from CA lost her temper when we were told loudly that we had to leave the area by one of the Drill Sgts. She got all over them for leaving us waiting all this time. The grandson was very upset and frustrated by this time, and having waited all day, we got to take him over to the on-base Burger King for 45 minutes.
It felt as though the way high ups were making an effort to have this ceremony more like a school graduation, a kinder, gentler army. Those in charge on the ground were not OK with this, and, as far as I could tell, did everything they could to torture both the kids and the parents. I understand that this is not summer camp, nor college, but having invited us here, why behave this way? And as an unspoken under current to all this was my feeling that they were sending these kids off to possibly be killed and couldn’t even summon up enough manners to be polite to their families for an afternoon.
I wish I had had the nerve to make a scene, but it would probably have backfired onto the kids. I may write a letter, but after Don gave the company commander a piece of his mind and heard that even he was getting in trouble for being lenient with the graduates, I realize that the culture of the military has no interest in what civilians might think. It seems that we are sub human, rather weak, and have no understanding of the serious business of war.
It’s serious business all right. I am horrified by the amount of money spent on this war. Horrified by the amount of money that certain well-connected US companies are making on this war. Horrified by the number of young Americans killed and wounded, and by the number of non-combatants killed and wounded. How is this protecting our freedom? The gumment is tapping our phones, instituting a national ID card, and who knows what other “freedoms” are being chewed away at, while public education fails our children and millions are denied health care.
While I am sputtering away here, full of righteous indignation and slightly pinkish peacenik thoughts, the grandson is getting his marching orders for Ft. Benning in GA where he will learn how to jump out of an airplane to aid the fallen wherever they lie. Although he doesn’t enjoy the obedience training, he is enthusiastic about the army and about jumping out of airplanes, and helping the wounded. His nickname at boot camp was X-box, a type of computer game box, and he is a serious devotee of gaming, including the shoot-em-up types. In those games, monsters, mutants, robots, and bad humans are blown away in sheets of gunfire and explosives, with blood and shouting. Back in some nervous, suspicious corner of my brain, I wonder if the realities of the battlefield will come as a terrifying and heartbreaking awakening. The move from the protected fantasy world of childhood toward the less rosy grown up world is never easy, and he has already demonstrated courage and strength, so he will undoubtedly do just fine.
posted by Thistledown24 at 5:35 AM
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