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An interesting way to look at people By Michael C. Guilmette Jr. Originally published on Sept. 3, 2009, in the Connersville News-Examiner. In many ways, the military can be considered a microcosm of society in general. At least, this is what I found during my six years wearing the uniform.
The military has its rivalries and inside jokes most civilians would not understand. The annual Army/Navy football game is a legendary rivalry in the sports world, but it only scratches the surface of the usually good-natured jostling between the service branches. Only those who have donned the cover will truly grasp what it is like to live in that environment. Like society, however, the military also has its share of urban legends. That comes as no surprise, since any organization so steeped in history and tradition will accumulate some baggage through the decades. Some are silly — such as the story that claims the ball on the flagpole on every military base contains a match and a pistol so that, in the event the base is being overrun, the commander can burn the flag so it cannot be captured and then shoot himself so he cannot be captured. Some are plainly false but sometimes followed — such as the claim that a soldier’s dog tags are notched so they can kicked in between a fallen soldier’s teeth or that recruits receive “stress cards” in basic training that gets them out of getting yelled at by training instructors. And some are asinine yet extremely insidious. Into this category falls the story that all military members are government property. I first encountered this compelling story while I was in language school in California when a few of us had the misfortune of getting sunburned one weekend. While suffering through the ill-effects of my injury, some self-appointed barracks lawyer took it upon himself to inform me that I was in danger of a court-martial because getting sunburned constitutes damage to government property, since I was considered government property in the eyes of the military. I paid it little mind, since the pain on my back was of far greater concern at that time. Also, the whole thing sounded pretty silly, since the military had plenty of regulations to use to punish me for getting sunburned that didn’t involve a declaration of property. I figured stories such as that were the type of thing that circulated through the enlisted ranks to give bored troops something to talk about, and I seriously doubted the NCOs and officers gave it much mind. Or so I thought. Jump forward four years and I found myself in a briefing presented by a two-star general. The briefing was pretty mundane, and I honestly do not recall what this senior officer was talking about — except for one thing. The good general informed the assembled formation that we were all government property. I was incensed by his blatant declaration. On one hand, I had thought the issue of treating human beings as property had already been settled by the bloodiest war in our history 130 years prior. On the other, hearing a high-ranking officer refer to troops under his command as “government property” conjured images of commanders who would send wave after wave of soldiers against an enemy just to see them face annihilation. That sentiment gave me cause to think officers such as this looked on us enlisted as throwaways. Later complaining this point to co-workers, some who were civilians, one of them told me I should get used to this kind of thinking. When I rejoined the civilian world, I was told, I would find the same attitude because businesses and the government would consider me a “human resource.” Today, I must begrudgingly admit he was right. While the government may not yet consider us to be property, it is clear the government is looking at each of us in terms of dollars and cents. Recently, one of President Barack Obama’s health advisers, Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, the brother of the Blagojevich-tainted White House chief of staff Raum Emanuel, was revealed to have made statements that could easily be used to monetize people. Writing in the Wall Street Journal’s Aug. 27 Opinion Journal, Betsy McCaughey quoted Dr. Emanuel from a June 18, 2008, article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, advocating “the progression in end-of-life care mentality from ‘do everything’ to more palliative care shows that change in physician norms and practices is possible.” Palliative care, in essence, is pain-pill care — a concept forwarded by Obama himself. Dr. Emanuel has also written at length suggesting that medical care should be concentrated on people ranging in age from 15 to 40, since these years are supposedly the most productive. Young children have had little invested in them by society, and the elderly are going to die anyway, so care should be shifted away from them. In other articles, the Wall Street Journal pointed out that Dr. Emanuel was speaking in a broad, bioethical sense and that he is also an outspoken critic of assisted suicide and euthanasia. So, Dr. Emanuel’s arguments are merely academic, presumably not necessarily intended to become public policy. However, a government eager to both take up the burden of medical care and simultaneously cut costs is listening to him, and may be more inclined to put his opinions into action. It’s no wonder why notions such as rationed care and “death panels” have gained traction in this debate. I had hoped such notions were only urban legends, but I fear it would easy for them not to be. • Guilmette is managing editor of the News-Examiner. He may be contacted at mguilmette@newsexaminer.com. |
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Copyright © 2009, Michael C. Guilmette Jr. |
Like society, the military has a structure, both official and unofficial, that keeps it running. The military has its heroes and its villains. It has its traditions and it has its taboos.
