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Reviews |
December 14,
2005 | vol. XXXIX | No. 3 |
Fixation on political views hinder moral
support
By Natalie Jacobs,
executive editor
For the school’s
Veterans’ Day assembly, three veterans
came to speak to us about their
experiences in war. The third speaker
was Colonel Will Hagood. He was in Iraq
less than a year ago fighting in
Operation Iraqi Freedom. He told us
about his experiences, and he explained
what it was like to be in war over
there.
He even passed along the message:
“Iraqis told me to thank Americans for
ousting Saddam.”
His speech seemed genuine, and I’m sure
a majority of our school community
agrees with me. But I was surprised
when, in passing after the assembly,
someone asked, “I bet you liked that
speech didn’t you, Natalie?” (This was
said because it is fairly well-known
that I identify myself as a Republican).
Later, I heard someone talking about how
the speech was “propaganda.” And there
were a few more instances such as these.
I was surprised hearing these comments
because, when listening to the speech, I
did not take it to be a political speech
at all.
If we can bear it, let’s put aside the
argument about whether or not we went to
war for the right reasons. In his
speech, Colonel Hagood never supported
President Bush’s decision to go over
there. He didn’t criticize it, but he
didn’t support it either.
It’s amazing to me that people can’t let
down their “political guards” long
enough to honor and respect our
soldiers. It’s always “I support our
soldiers, but I don’t support this war.”
Why can’t it just be, “I respect our
soldiers” and leave it at that? Why must
there always be a political overtone?
Although many soldiers may not enjoy
being in this particular war, they do
enjoy serving our country. If a colonel
is going to voluntarily stand up in
front of 450 high schoolers and tell
about his wartime experiences, we should
be able to simply listen to what he has
to say.
Colonel Hagood told us about many of the
good things our soldiers are doing in
Iraq, and he received criticism for
doing so. We hear about all the bad
things from the media and from
Washington on a daily basis. We listen
to and often believe that. So why can’t
we listen to a soldier’s perspective on
the good things and honor that viewpoint
as well? Personally, I do not understand
how some people took his speech for
granted. Out of all the people in the
room that day, he had the most honest
perspective on the war. His perspective
is more honest than any media’s,
columnist’s, or senator’s. Because he
was there. In the middle of it all.
Unlike every American not enlisted in
the military.
He was asked to speak about his
experiences in war, and he did just
that. What incentive would he have had
to use “propaganda” in his speech?
Unlike the media and Washington, his
audience wasn’t paying him. A majority
of us can’t even vote, and we don’t see
him on a daily basis to where he’d need
our acceptance. There was no reason for
him to feel the need to try and sway the
student body to the right.
Everything is too political in today’s
culture. This instance was a perfect
example of that. A soldier simply tried
to tell us about his war experiences,
and he was criticized by some. It would
make things so much easier (and reduce
many people’s frustration and stress
levels) if we could just let down our
political guards every once in a while.
Wouldn’t it be nice if, just sometimes,
we could truly recognize and appreciate
subjects at hand without getting caught
up in the inexhaustible political
arguments of it all?
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