What We Swear: A Veteran's POV on the State-of-Our-Union

Credit: DWilliam from Pixabay

I considered typing one word and letting that be the extent of this post. Problem is: no single word can capture where the United States stands, today. I , like so many other veterans and service members, am left to wrestle with examining why we served and for what in light of our country's current stances.

Veterans and service members are far from homogenous...obviously so, and we make up only 6.1% of the current adult population. If taken together, this is only enough people to be considered the fifth-largest state. (For comparison, we accounted for ~18% of the population in 1980, which at that time would make veterans the largest state by 17.1 million people.) Given our increasingly dwindling numbers, our 'takes' on what it means to 'serve the country' may seem antiquated to the general population. Especially so from Millennials to present.

Some housekeeping.

I understand all too well that the reasons people join the military are many and varied. Patriotism, undoubtedly, is no longer at the top of the list. Though by the end of our service, I'd wager our opinions on safeguarding the freedoms of the U.S. change in rather unique ways. More so as we age.

Cliche as it may be (or unimportant to some), we do, all, swear an oath regarding the protection of our freedoms. Our problem now involves more of the second half of that oath about obeying the orders of the President and with defining 'domestic enemies'.

Understanding the Restricting of Freedoms

A lot of people only think of the military and protecting our country from the bombs-and-bullets angle. What many fail to think about is what volunteering for the military means in terms of Constitutional freedom.

TL;DR - We give up some of our freedoms, for the term of our service, in order to protect those of others.

"Huh?" I hear many of you asking, so let me elaborate.

As active service members, our freedom of speech and expression are limited, especially with regard to assembly and petitioning the Government (1st Amendment). If we live on base, we don't just get to keep personal firearms with us. They must go to the armory. We can keep them somewhat, but bearing them isn't nearly as simple (2nd Amendment). Search, seizure, and probable cause are much more fluid. Again, live on base (4th Amendment). The military can make criminal prosecutions within its court martial system, and while the 6th Amendment remains mostly intact here, there is a lot of liberty taken with a 'speedy, public trial' and an 'impartial jury'.

In an odd, and increasingly dangerous, twist, veterans and service members are more guilty of inflicting harm on others regarding the Eighth and Ninth Amendments (see the Clinton-era 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy, the current treatment of transgender service members, and the use of foreign-based prisons and black sites).

No other profession in the United States - including elected officials and intelligence agents - requires nearly so much giving up of personal, Constitutional freedom to protect the same of others. Veterans and service members should have a fine appreciation of our freedoms and intimate understanding of what it looks like to have them restricted.

If nothing else, veterans never, ever forget this part of our service.

This primarily only works due to volunteering for such a life and the very, very small amount of individuals asked to live this way. Multiply the above to the entire population and suddenly it's not just four to six amendments being contorted or broken; it's the entire Constitution.

Staggering Inconsistencies

However...

Two, apparent and staggering inconsistencies often flow from veterans and service members.

• The seeming vehemence against government-provided benefits. (cough, the VA, cough)

• Supporting the restriction of freedoms on fellow citizens. (Stockholm syndrome, maybe?)

For context, I am a 0% disabled veteran. Yet, when my service with the Marines ended and I didn't have health coverage, the VA provided all of my healthcare, including two major surgeries, for only $6 per prescription. (I might have paid $15 apiece for the appendectomy and meniscus repair. I've slept since then.)

While the VA system is leagues away from perfect, it still provides those healthcare services in a similar way. For those of us with other health insurance options now, this might not mean much. To others, it's a literal lifeline. (Though that lifeline is fraying under the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.)

When I was active duty, I didn't have to worry about any of it at all. Healthcare was just there and free.

Veterans become very inconsistent, and frankly hypocritical, if we don't support a version of similar benefits for our fellow citizens. (Even more so when considering most developed countries already have such.)

Where the restrictions on freedom are concerned, we, veterans, have had ours pinched. We know what it's like. (Not f-ing fun.) Why would we support anything that did the same to others, specifically when we joined and gave up some of ours, so that such restrictions wouldn't happen? (Bit of ouroboros thinking, that is.)

View From Here

The best summary that I can't offer, but James Baldwin can is:

"I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually."

To be abundantly clear, I love my country in a way that citizens of many other countries may not understand. (Well, Canadians and Greenlanders get it, especially now.) I loved it when I joined the Marine Corps, and I love it today.

Before I get to sounding too much like Dr. Seuss... Suffice to say, my optimism in my country to do the right thing, even at the last minute, has dimmed almost to the point of going dark.

The engine of our system is grinding and smoking. Those we've elected to power are stalling us out. A bag of wrenches has fallen into the gears. (No, those wrenches are not exclusively Republican or conservative.) Instead of putting on the brakes, slowly pulling over, and making the necessary fixes, we've opted to allow our drivers to take us to the redline. No matter the sturdiness of the build, any machine under this much stress has only one, eventual endpoint... to break.

Could we pull it back? Yes.

Will we? I doubt so more each day.

I could point to a very recent and specific example of what happens if you really, truly scare the oligarchy, but to prevent divergence from the topic, I'll leave you to consider which example I mean. But could America's masses ever unite to do this at scale?

I'm not nihilistic, and I don't want to be defeatist. But I am a student of history. Where we are is never a positive moment for any empire. (And we, the United States, are an empire.)

Not like someone from Iran or Sierra Leone or formerly Nazi-controlled Germany, but I know what it's like to have my freedom restricted. I know what it's like to try and work around those restrictions. The fear. The sometimes hopelessness. The anger. I observe the long-arc of the U.S.'s moral universe not bending quite so far toward justice. Maybe even away from it. Of course, this makes me fearful and angry and near hopeless.

But these feelings run much deeper and darker now as a civilian.

There's no longer an EAS (end of active service) date to fix my eyes on. There's no sympathetic Sergeant Major or commanding officer. There's no longer youth and boundless enthusiasm. There's age, experience, a teeny-tiny bit of wisdom and...if called upon, treachery.

To quote a former Master Sergeant of mine: "Old age and treachery will always overcome youth and enthusiasm." I would amend this to include 'money' on both sides of the equation.

Unfortunately, a twisted version of this philosophy is playing out in our country right now. Others, seeking to preserve our freedoms, have the option to hit back in the same way as those seeking to limit them. The situation would not be an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object, not past the initial conflict and never permanently. Someone would wrestle full control of the wheel.

The biggest question: Will whoever sits in the driver's seat stop to fix what's broken or take us fully over the edge?

As a veteran, I can only hope that those making the decisions understand that their constituency could not care less about the plays for power and career advancement among politicians. I hope they take a lesson from the late 1700s, both here and in France, about what happens when the powerful only seek more power and limit the freedoms of the common citizenry. We aren't there yet, but it's no longer a drastic thought.