Sean T Lewis: Armistice Day 2006: Honor Veterans,Wage Peace

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Sean T Lewis

In all of human history, no sane person has gone into battle thinking, “This is what I want for my children.” No one has sliced another person open with a sword, driven a bayonet into a heart, shot into an ambush, launched a missile, or raided a civilian home with the thought, “Someday, my children will get to do this.” No one has taken a bullet, smelled their own burning flesh, lost a limb to a roadside bomb, contracted cancer from Agent Orange, or hung himself out of guilt with the idea, “I can't wait until my kids get to experience this.” Yet generation after generation after generation, this is what we do.

None other than General William Tecumseh Sherman, the infamous Union general whose slash-and-burn march through the South brought the Confederacy to its knees, later said, “War is at best barbarism... It is only those who have never...heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, more vengeance, more desolation.” President Dwight D. Eisenhower, retired General who led the Allies to victory through the most brutal invasion Europe ever saw, had this to say: "When people speak to you about a preventive war, you tell them to go and fight it. After my experience, I have come to hate war. War settles nothing." General Eisenhower was, in fact, the peace candidate of 1952, swearing to travel to Korea and bring the conflict to an end, which he did in 1953. The list goes on. Veterans working for peace fill our history: Washington, Grant, Roosevelt, Butler, Bradley, Clark.

And yet, our culture holds a stereotyped mythology about military veterans that characterizes all based on only a few. It is a stereotype that is as culturally strong as any racial slur, but while our culture has made open racism taboo, few dare challenge the mythology of the military veteran. This mythological stereotype characterizes veterans as heroes and martyrs; selfless and courageous; Sergeant York and Joan of Arc. The mythology also teaches us that veterans are conservatives, warhawks, or even fascists who embrace war's carnage, and believe that it is the only way to ensure safety for the rest of society.

Combine these aspects of the mythology, and Western culture tells us that veterans, as well as active military, should be embraced, but their mission never questioned. After all, they are willing to give their lives to defend us. This is what we learn from the movies of John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. Our culture has even created institutions to reinforce the stereotyped mythology like the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars, institutions led by people who fit the hawkish stereotype, regardless of where the rank and file stand. Veterans who follow progressive causes, oppose war, regard it as a last resort, or who work for peace are regarded as anomalies. They are demonized as unpatriotic or cowardly, regardless of heroism in their service records.

As wars are waged by politicians, and not those who fight, it is necessary to perpetuate all of these stereotypes. Through the unrealistic lens of hero-worship, we give children icons to look up to, archetypes to aspire to. Simultaneously, by portraying the established heroes of our society as being on the same side of the political fence as those who wage the wars, we are able to stifle dissent with catchy slogans like "Support the Troops", a propagandist's tool that chides the public for even thinking that society's heroes might not want to be killing and dying for someone else's cause.

The truth is on another plane entirely. Just as in the general population, veterans – like those who choose to serve – fill the political spectrum from the right to the left, and back again. Some 80% of veterans do not belong to any service organization, only wanting to live their lives peacefully among the civilian population now that their time of service is fulfilled.

The leadership of the American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars represent themselves as the epitome of the American veteran, but they are only the leadership of these organizations, with little regard for the opinions of the general membership. At the other end of the spectrum are the Veterans for Peace, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Veterans for Common Sense, Service Academy Graduates Against the War, Veterans for Human Rights, Veterans Against Torture, and a plethora of smaller organizations. These veterans work for peace, and for the preservation of the rights of all Americans—indeed all humanity—through the Constitution of the United States.

These organizations are smaller than the major service organizations in numbers, but in them, every member is a leader. Every member of the “peacevet” organizations has made the choice to stand up and be counted; a choice to say, “not in my name.”; a choice to stand against the mythology; a choice to lead by example; a choice to lead from experience. I am honored and humbled to be considered a leader among these thousands of leaders in our nation.

Mythology aside, there are two things veterans do have in common. We all served, and not one of us did what we did, endured what we endured, or fought where we fought with the desire that our children should have to do it again after us. With this in mind, quite simply, speak out. Don't hold your voice inside. Don't let the cultural mythology dictate how you regard us or second-guess how we will interpret your actions. The greatest honor that any American can pay to any veteran is to exercise the liberties guaranteed by the Constitution.

Wage Peace.

Sean T Lewis
President
Veterans for Peace, ch. 72
Portland, Oregon

A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION

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