[Peace-discuss] Letter in response to my letter

[Karen Aram]

David inspired me, and I submitted my letter yesterday morning to the NG as a result of the one by Tomaras attempting to counter him.

I don’t know if mine will be printed, but I suggest others write one up also, we need to flood the NG with letters countering war and militarism which isn’t going away, we are now looking at permanent war, because its profitable and the potential for nuclear war given “anything can happen.”

My letter to the NG Editor yesterday:

When those who served in the military talk of "what a wonderful experience they and others had while with the US military, I ask, to what is it they are referring?  Is being cannon fodder, and part of an organization used to destroy and murder innocent people, a worthy endeavor?

Do they not notice the veterans suffering from PTSD, as well as crippling physical malady’s, suffered by many returning veterans? Do they not see the homeless, nor the recorded suicides of at least two a day, every day, of US veterans. This doesn't cover the numerous broken family's or the nightmares suffered as a result of their "service to their country."

I suggest speaking to “Veterans Against War,” those who served their country, only to return and become active opposing US imperialism and hegemony, whether Vietnam, Iraq or Afghanistan, due to the horrors suffered by our soldiers, as well as "inflicted upon others."

Its time the News Gazette stop glorifying wars that serve only to kill and enrich the corporate elites owning our government, wars that cripple our people while ensuring wealth for our major industry, weapons.







On Jan 20, 2019, at 08:08, Brussel, Morton K <brussel at illinois.edu<mailto:brussel at illinois.edu>> wrote:

Nothing unexpected here. Yes, we buy our military “volunteers”, and some do profit from it, while others flounder and are wasted in one way or another.  And cost the rest of society dearly.

And a belated thanks for your letter.

Mort


On Jan 19, 2019, at 11:15 AM, David Green via Peace-discuss <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net<mailto:peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>> wrote:

Military service a positive experience

Our local iconoclast and critic of American life, David Green, writes that our armed forces are predominantly drawn from the economically underprivileged “to serve as potential cannon fodder and cops on the beat.” He concludes, “these predominantly working-class individuals serve … the interests of the capitalist class and sacrifice only to the latter’s benefit.”

First, I dislike “working man/working-class” terminology because, while long employed in management and thereby disqualified as a “working man,” I consistently worked more hours per week (including every Saturday and Sunday) than the typical Monday through Fri- day “working man.”

But that is not my primary dispute with Green’s views. To realize that military service offers many positives to “working-class individuals,” one has but to read what Seon Williams, this year’s Dr. Martin Luther King Outstanding Achievement Awardee, said about his six-plus years of service: “It was the best thing I could have ever done.”

Williams credits his success as an entrepreneur to the “discipline, responsibility, initiative, leadership and positive attitude” he learned in the service.

Thousands of oncedisadvantaged men and women have been positively impacted by their valued service to their country. To many, our armed forces offer employable skills and self-confidence as alternatives to a life of poverty or crime.

Honoring veterans is anything but “propaganda” and “manipulative promotion.”

PETER T. TOMARAS Champaign

_______________________________________________
Peace-discuss mailing list
Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net<mailto:Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
https://lists.chambana.net/mailman/listinfo/peace-discuss


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.chambana.net/pipermail/peace-discuss/attachments/20190120/a3f22a9e/attachment-0001.html>