November 3, 2006

Good Morning! It is good to be near the Lord today. I enjoy Pastor Rogers’ words on patriotism. Another take on patriotism can be found in the book:
AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America's Upper Classes from Military Service -- and How It Hurts Our Country by Kathy Roth-Douquet and Frank Schaeffer. The title might be a bit cumbersome, but I want to acquire a copy and read it. I have read that only 1% of the country has served in the military; this seems to me a low figure when I look around here, but perhaps other parts of the nation make up for our higher figure. Then again… when I start counting veterans and how difficult it can be to find them, maybe not so low. Certainly it is understandable when a mother or father does not want their son or daughter to enlist. The military is directly related to war; no matter who starts it, they will have to fight it. People, both civilian and military, die in wars and none of us wish death upon someone else.
As someone who has already served, I think that everyone should volunteer to serve their country in their youth. We have it easy if we can get away with such a low figure and still have a strong and dedicated military service in our country. Many countries with smaller populations must have near 100% service in order to defend their lands; of course, others have huge populations and can draft million man armies without blinking an eye. However, it is one of the great disparities that so many enjoy the freedom of the best country on earth without giving back a few years of their life to maintain it. Although our military has seldom needed that many people, wouldn’t it be great if the military had to pick and choose through stacks of applications to serve our country? Now I read that the Army had to lower its standards to get enough enlistees, few it seems want to serve right now. Picking up a rifle and doing your duty as a free American has always been difficult, especially in war time, but always we have overcome the fear. What is so different now? Have we as a people become so cynical or fearful that even the terrorist attacks on our nation cannot inspire us for more than a few months? Veterans Day is one week from tomorrow, perhaps we should spend at least this week praying earnestly for our country.

Bucky