Women in the Military
Last week, our local newspaper carried an editorial criticizing the US Government for allowing military women in front-line roles. Specifically, the columnist, Kathleen Parker, asked, "What kind of country sends mothers of young children, especially single mothers, to war?" Today, Jimmy Graham of Greer sent a follow-up letter to the editor continued her critique, blaming the citizens of the U.S., because after all, the President sends mothers in to combat, and it is the fault of the citizens who elected him.
Don't you love all the personal accountability in their arguments? Oh wait, you missed it too?
Last I checked, we had a 100% volunteer military. No one has been drafted (and even when we did have a draft decades ago, women were excluded). So every one of these "mothers of young children, especially single mothers" is there by her own choice. Not because anyone forced her. We need to respect the decision they made, honor them, and be grateful for their service to our great country.
Now I'm sure there are some who will say that these women didn't realize what they were in for when they volunteered for the military. Some claim that the women never realized that they would potentially be put in front-line positions. The thing is, the National Organization for Women has been fighting for women in full combat roles for years. This is nothing new. I think that the brave women in our military are smarter than these writers suggest they are.
But it seems people don't want to hold people accountable for their decisions. Mr. Graham wrote accurately, "Once you trade in your civilian clothes for a military uniform, you're subject to orders 24/7. From the five-star general to the lowly private when the commander in chief says move, you have to move, you have to salute and say, "How fast sir?"" So he understands that it is clear what happens when one enlists in the military. How then is it the President's fault, or the fault of the citizens who elected him, and not the fault of the people who accept these orders and volunteer for the military?
The military is not just a place to go hang out for a few years and get career training, which is what some people seem to think. That is called college. Now the argument will come that some people need the military for training because they cannot afford college. Perhaps that is true, but again, that is a decision that they need to be personally accountable for. My parents didn't go to college because their rich parents paid for it. (In fact, their parents were not rich!) They both worked their tails off and were offered academic scholarships. And yes, Dad was drafted in to the Navy in Korea, and despite his academic scholarship, had the GI bill pay for his college. My husband took the extended-plan attending college, and worked full-time the whole way through.
It's a matter of choosing which sacrifice you want to make -- working your way through school, getting a scholarship, or joining the military.
But these women chose to be in the military. Quit blaming everyone else for them being there. Give them the honor and respect they deserve by not only honoring their service, but their decision as well.
Don't you love all the personal accountability in their arguments? Oh wait, you missed it too?
Last I checked, we had a 100% volunteer military. No one has been drafted (and even when we did have a draft decades ago, women were excluded). So every one of these "mothers of young children, especially single mothers" is there by her own choice. Not because anyone forced her. We need to respect the decision they made, honor them, and be grateful for their service to our great country.
Now I'm sure there are some who will say that these women didn't realize what they were in for when they volunteered for the military. Some claim that the women never realized that they would potentially be put in front-line positions. The thing is, the National Organization for Women has been fighting for women in full combat roles for years. This is nothing new. I think that the brave women in our military are smarter than these writers suggest they are.
But it seems people don't want to hold people accountable for their decisions. Mr. Graham wrote accurately, "Once you trade in your civilian clothes for a military uniform, you're subject to orders 24/7. From the five-star general to the lowly private when the commander in chief says move, you have to move, you have to salute and say, "How fast sir?"" So he understands that it is clear what happens when one enlists in the military. How then is it the President's fault, or the fault of the citizens who elected him, and not the fault of the people who accept these orders and volunteer for the military?
The military is not just a place to go hang out for a few years and get career training, which is what some people seem to think. That is called college. Now the argument will come that some people need the military for training because they cannot afford college. Perhaps that is true, but again, that is a decision that they need to be personally accountable for. My parents didn't go to college because their rich parents paid for it. (In fact, their parents were not rich!) They both worked their tails off and were offered academic scholarships. And yes, Dad was drafted in to the Navy in Korea, and despite his academic scholarship, had the GI bill pay for his college. My husband took the extended-plan attending college, and worked full-time the whole way through.
It's a matter of choosing which sacrifice you want to make -- working your way through school, getting a scholarship, or joining the military.
But these women chose to be in the military. Quit blaming everyone else for them being there. Give them the honor and respect they deserve by not only honoring their service, but their decision as well.
posted by Susan | 7:30 AM
2 Comments:
But what about women already in the military who become single parents? What about ones who are rape victims (which actually happens at a high incidence to women in the military)?
I don't think we can give a blanket disapproval to all the single mothers of the military. There are also rising incidences of fraud, where people sign up for the National Guard after being falsely promised that they will NOT be sent to Iraq or Afghanistan and, surprise, their unit gets deployed.
Having said all that, I'm not in favor of automatically allowing all single parents to stay out of overseas deployments (otherwise many soldiers would start becoming single parents to get cushier shore details). I feel sorry for the children, and single parents have a hard life in or out of the military.
I think that special exceptions can be made for special circumstances. But the editorial and letter I read seemed to be making blanket statements about sending ANY woman or mother to the front lines.
Being in the military is a tough job with a lot of sacrifices. I love my country, but I certainly could not do it myself.
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