The Sandbox

When I served in the Navy, I completely gave over a lot of my rights to be part of the military.  I was on a submarine, and the crew was prepared to carry out whatever orders we received.  I did make one moral choice, I did not volunteer to be on a “boomer.” But other than that, the act of enlisting is a choice to accept that the leaders of the country will wisely use the military assets at their command.

Two presidents, Carter and Reagan, were variously my Commander in Chief.  One I agreed with, one I really did not.  But neither, in my opinion, violated the basic contract that leaders in this country make with the servicemen and women.  The contract says that we will suspend our right to make individual decisions about life and death, right and wrong, as long as those who give the orders respect our choices and respect that we are defending freedoms.

Now comes a stinging indictment of the current leader from the brother of Pat Tillman, one of the most celebrated servicemen to die in the recent wars.  The brother, Kevin Tillman, also served in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and says, in very eloquent language, that the contract has been broken.  The servicemen and women are fighting for leaders who don’t honor their decisions, their sacrifices, or anything that they might be willing to fight for.  Those in active service can’t make that statement, of course.  But someone who did his time and then said what he had to say, can.