The Jump Blog

I Choked Up On This One…

August 19th, 2005 by GoldFalcon

I listen to NPR because they go in depth into stories that others spend seconds on. That said I must always apply my own “english” to what they report. If one doesn’t apply the counter-spin then one winds up wearing a T-Shirt that says “Leave Only Footprints, Take Only Pictures”, munching granola outside of the Birkenstock store.

But there are some good spots on there. This audio Op-Ed (click “listen”) is one of them.

Not only does Stephen Mansfield nail exactly what it is that Sheehan is doing wrong, he more importantly nails what it was that her son did right, and why it is that most soldiers serve.

And I’m just gonna leave it right there because I can’t improve on what the man had to say. Listen to his piece because he got it right.

Posted in Politics, Military |

3 Responses to “I Choked Up On This One…”

on 19 Aug 2005 at 7:53 am Francis Marion

Those are some powerfull words Mansfield wrote in his letter and much kinder than mine, but I still stick my mine.
on 21 Aug 2005 at 9:32 am TR34DH34D

Hey bro…your left leaning moderate poping in for his two cents worth.

While I think Mrs. Sheehan is being manipulated by others that could really care less about her pain of losing her son. I have to take exception to some of the language used by Mr. Mansfield.

The main one being, “…the altar of sacrifice…”. WTF!!!!!!! That pisses me off….big time. You know how many vets I know that enlist for “the altar of sacrifice”? NONE!!!!

This war, to me at least, has exposed the posers. I see it from both the left and right…people who have never served, have never ever thought of serving, and think the military is beneth their station in life, glorifying the deaths and injuries of American service members.

I remember watching the Presidential Debates, and Michael Reagan was talking to college students in MO. He ask this one student if she supported the war, and she replied “Yes”. When he asked if she would enlist in the military, she showed an expresion of shock and replied “No”. WTF??? Is this the “altar of sacrifice”?

Trying to stay a bit calm and on point. We that enlisted in the military, enlisted for various reasons. We entered the military understanding the risk that is involved. We also entered the military understanding that soldiers fight and die in war…but not to be sacrificed. As a former NCO I never ever initiated a plan that would sacrifice my soldiers. Mission first, soldiers always….those are powerful words.

We fight for the guy on our left and the guy on our right….our buddies.

I’m getting more pissed writing this….I’ll STFU now.
on 21 Aug 2005 at 10:35 am GoldFalcon

Hey Tread, thanks for dropping by.

First lemme give some context. Mansfield was referring to a quote from Abraham Lincoln (he does so twice) in the famous Mrs. Bixby letter:

Executive Mansion,
Washington, Nov. 21, 1864.

Dear Madam,–

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,

A. Lincoln

Next, I agree that soldiers don’t join to be sacrificed. That fact does nothing to mitigate the reality that war is –from the leadership’s point of view, and that of the nation– a sacrificial endevour. Soldiers do sacrifice in an honorable way, sometimes sacrificing their lives for some noble purpose as saving a child or saving their buddies, or just doing their jobs.

But, more harshly, soldiers are sacrificed to accomplish the goals and aims of the war. Grant was willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of men to preserve the Union; Lee was likewise willing to sacrifice tens of thousands of men in an effort to preserve his state’s rights.

Any time a leader says to a soldier “You go there and do this.” he is placing the soldier as a sacrifice to the mission. Sometimes the sacrifice is not consumated, other times it is savage, yet the leader must still compell the men to go. The men make the sacrifice, the leader offers the sacrifice.

It is up to us, the people, to decide if the alter upon which our soldiers are sacrificed is one that we support and endorse. For American’s this altar has generally been the concept of “freedom” for ourselves or others. For other cultures the altar of “conquest” has been sufficient.

Regardless of the motivation war is an altar to something and our soldiers are our offerrings upon the altar. That is why it behooves us to make sure we are in the right.

As for people supporting the war but not being willing to go, I have no great problem with that. Military service is not for everyone (in the specific case of the female college student, it could be that she does not believe in females serving in the armed forces. I know many conservatives who feel that way) and I don’t think that an unwillingness to serve neccessarily disqualifies one from supporting the war any more than having served in it requires you to support the President.