What Glory in War? / The Next Greatest Generation

by prophecor 12 Replies latest jw experiences

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  prophecor

  War is Hell ! That is the basic premise. The blood, the gore, the fear, the dead, and those who will be.

  As the United States of America goes deeper into the war on terror, a Crusade of its own, as it were, there seems to be an unending response of those, willing to risk losing thier lives for the sake of something far larger and greater than themselves. Is there something that we are missing out on, or not picking up as to the reasons our young are willing to sacrifice thier lives in pursuit of fighting for the cause, whatever that cause might be?

  Those of us who enjoy a good war flick can identify with some of the energy of putting ones self in harm's way, the excitement of the challenge, the thrill of the fight, more importantly, there are those here who have personally experienced war, Viet Nam, The Gulf War, Dessert Storm.

  Yes there are those who will die, but for those who make it thru the fire, for those who return, is there something that drives them? Is there something special about them? What is it that drives men who seek out this type of profession? There is a morbid romanticism that comes with war. A fascination with having the power of life and death in your hands, and the ability to execute and carry that out.

  What am I missing here? Wars have been happening since Cain and Able. It's seems that man has a inbred, natural propensity for it.

  Anyone familliar with the Rock Anthem " The Rooster " by Alice In Chains, knowing the real meaning behind the song and the energy ladened with it, can get a gist for what I'm asking. Some who return are just plain lucky, then there are those who come thru the fire, because they were staunch and fiercly committed to the task and enjoyed what it was they were doing.

  The movie Jarhead, shows the trailer of war being a place of fascination and glory. Apocalypse Now, Platoon, and Full Metal Jacket also give a hint, as to the glory that is associated with war.Even in the Scriptures, the thrill of battle seems to be a recurring theme. I'm engrossed in a video game now, Ace Combat 5, The Unsung War. It gives as realistic an indication as to what those who are doing in Iraq are no doubt experiencing.

  War is Hell, but to able to go to Hell and return, what a testimony to the human spirit.
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  misspeaches
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  tetrapod.sapien

  i saw jarhead last weekend. i really liked it...

  i think war is pretty obvious evidence against the notion of god dicking around in our affairs. and what's more, is the concept of war fits nicely in with the evolutionary concept that we are animals, simply guessing as we go along. mentally discontinuous, arrogant animals. more bloody notches on the belt against god, if you ask me.

  i wonder sometimes, what it must be like to be a soldier and kill people. i imagine the moment of the trigger pulling to be extremely easy, for some reason. it's the previous and continuing moments that must be painfully hellish.

  TS
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  heathen

  Yah some people just think they are defending the home land so get real proud about war . I think the US military and the GI bill are another reason people go in the military . I can see myself defending myself if need be but invading other countries knowing the politicians are lying basturds is a different story . I'm not afraid to die so cowardice is not a reason I avoid the military . That kind of life is for people that don't care about personal privacy and are willing to have other people give them orders all the time . I just don't have that kind of mentality .
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  prophecor

  Thanks for the early input folks. I'm asking because there appears to be a great number of those who strongly believe in what it is that they're doing. The generation that is taking it upon themselves to go to war, in response to what happened on September 11, 2001, just doesn't appear to stop. These young ones, especially, are the ones who I'm thinking of, ages 18-30. They seem to be made up of some of the best moral fiber that I've seen come down the pipe in quite some time. They remind me of those who went to war during WWII, named as the greatest generation. The character and moral fiber of those from that generation, was also viewed as exceptional. When the call to duty came as result of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there was a need for a sense of duty, to serve in a cause that was of larger than life, itself.

  These young ones are seemingly to me an answer to the people of my generation, the babyboomers who have dealt such a terrible blow to our culture, to our society, to the world in general. I think about all the corruption in government, such things as the S&L Scandal, Iran-Contra, The Cold War, Hollywood Hype Tripe, the media that spouts thier agenda and propaganda as to what they feel is important, our unwillingness to assume ownership of the problems that we as a culture have created, and they see the hypocrisy of people of my time, and they're no longer willing to accept anylonger, the status quo. They wish to rise above all that we have left behind for them. The young seem to have so much more on the ball than their predecessors.

  How often I've wished that I can be more like them. They appear to be moving through life without all the blinders or superficial urgings and outlooks that I had when thier age. They have evolved, it would seem, into some of the finest examples of being humans as one could ever know.

  Just My 50 Cents
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  Dansk

  Arthur,

  I think this is very much a part of it:

  There is a morbid romanticism that comes with war.

  I am always reminded of the words of that old song, Eve of Destruction: "Soldiers who wanna be heroes number actually zero, but there are millions who wanna be civilians!"

  To join the military is one thing, but to actually be deep in the heart of battle is another. True, there is a time when when armies are necessary. Hitler had to be stopped, for example. But for other times - the greatest number of times - political motives are highly questionable. Politicians - and generals - sacrifice the bloom of a nation's youth

  If people were just allowed to be people, instead of being labeled such and such a nationality or religion, disputes would never (or at least less likely) arise. Alas, if life were but that simple.......................

  Ian
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  prophecor

  there is a time when when armies are necessary. Hitler had to be stopped, for example. But for other times - the greatest number of times - political motives are highly questionable. Politicians - and generals - sacrifice the bloom of a nation's youth

  Thanx Ian for your perspective on this situation

  what's more, is the concept of war fits nicely in with the evolutionary concept that we are animals, simply guessing as we go along

  TPS, I have always ascribed to the idea that we are more closely asociated with animals than mankind would dare to admit.

  kind of life is for people that don't care about personal privacy and are willing to have other people give them orders all the time .

  Almost like being in the truth, Heathen.

  Thanks guys. Oh, and you too Miss Peaches. Thanx 4 Listening.
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  heathen

  I think you actually have less privacy in the military than as a j-dub . You really can't ask questions when told to do something in the military and you live in barracks with hundreds of other men . To me that just aint what life is about .
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  sass_my_frass

  I was thinking about this the other day, particularly with regards to 'celebrating' war heroes. When I was six I came home from school with some homework requiring me to colour in a picture of a laurel wreath as a remembrance day thing. Motherdarling told me that we don't get involved in hero worship, so I felt guilty and tore it out of my exercise book.

  Twenty years later I learned about my grandfathers captivity as a POW of the Japanese and researched how horrific it would have been. I also talked a lot with a refugee of post-war Japan and realised that war is just ugly for everybody. Nobody wants it, and those involved in it are pawns in the big game. Anybody who touches war is profoundly affected and changed for life - usually for the worse.

  When Saving Private Ryan came out a witness friend refused to see it because it was 'war hero worship'. I asked her how she knew that, since she wouldn't see it, and of course she just knew it was. I see it and the TV series that Hanks did, Band of Brothers, as something entirely different - just an honest portrayal of the ugliest and most horrific thing that humans can do - go to war. A couple of hours of that is all you need to realise that it's not like those guys wanted to be there, doing that. But they were, and here's the thing; because somebody had to. So I realised that I'm okay with a country defending itself against invaders....

  Korea, Vietnam, Iraq... to be honest they're different stories for me. Probably best we don't go there - but let's just say that I'm not so much grateful that the soldiers were sent there to fight for that; just that I'm really sorry that they were used to fulfill some guys deluded political dream, just like the Japanese and German invaders.

  I was just trying to explain why I'm very grateful that Nazi Germany and Empirical Japan don't run this planet, and so I'm respectful of the people who gave up their happiness and innocence to make it so. When I meet a veteran these days, I try to get their story, as much of it as they're willing to share. I think that people join an army thinking that there is glory in battle, but return realising that they were were just fodder. It doesn't matter what your particular generation is angry about; the ugliness of war will put it in perspective for you.
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  prophecor

  Sass My Frass, thank you so much for your viewpoint. Though I can't associate anyone going to war because they enjoy it, during the days of WWII, it was more of a requirement, people were drafted, they had to go. Then there were the ones who chose to volunteer. It was a call to duty, to the protection of the country.

  A lot of great people went in and came out of the war of 1939-1945. That generation was filled with people who were much larger than the the folks who came after them. They seem like they were more real, stronger. My generation, the " Baby Boomers ", we seem to have huge sections of our soul missing, as if the things that our parents tried to protect us from, or the ways in which we were catered to has subtracted something from us as human beings. Have we become soft? The Baby Boomers?

  I'm thinking, now, about the generation that is putting themselves in harms way, in Iraq & Ahfganistan. I've had the opportunity to meet a few of them. They seem to be some of the strongest, good natured, and God Inspired people, who truly believe in what they are doing. They have a humble nobility about them that's somewhat refreshing to see in young people these days.

  I can't imagine those who would put themselves in harms way, merely for the sake of monetary gain, though I am certain that element exist, I feel, however, that there is a spirit that is waking itself up in many of our young people in America, and it looks like it may turn the country in a positive direction. Morals and ethics in the young seem to be making a comeback. It's this spirit, this greatness that seems to be resurfacing, much the same way as those who served before them. Those who found it necessary to go off to war, turned out to be a stronger people.