[Vision2020] Idaho loses its 18th soldier

[nickgier at adelphia.net]

Greetings:

I heard something at church this morning that really moved me.  A church member talked about the 18th Idaho soldier to have been killed in Iraq. She had known him since he was seven.  

At the funeral the soldier's mother talked about the last conversation that she had with her son.  He was crying as he reported that he had just shot his first and only enemy soldier.  He told his mother that he had been going to the chaplain every day asking forgiveness. His mother-in-law-not-to-be also got up and expressed compassion for the enemy soldier and his family.  I'm sure she did not use the "R" word to describe him.

For years I've debated the philosophical arguments about a moral or just war, and I'm now convinced that there is no such thing.  This soldier knew in his heart that he had done wrong. not right, and that his emotional reaction proved this to be true.  Americans can justify the killing of Germans and Japanese only because it was expedient not because it was morally right.

There is another story about a soldier interviewed by a NYTimes reporter.  The reporter was struck by the amount of hate about Iraqis and Muslims in general that he carried with him.  He had experienced this in other soldiers so he did not think about again until he read that this soldier was among those indicted for killing an Iraqi family and raping their teenage daughter.

Interviews with WWII vets revealed that many soldiers never fired their weapons, even when they were ordered to. Military officials were obviously worried about this, so that led to new training techniques that are supposed to instill the killer instinct in young men and women who may not have it. 

Recently a WSU employee complained to ROTC officiers about the hateful drill chants that he had heard on campus.  He was assured that the chants would end.  But how many other units are still "Drilling on Hate"?

In my previous essay on Expediencey vs. Morality, I made the point that a moral person should feel remorse for doing wrong.  What I worry about is the second soldier and those like him who appear to have not heeded the "NO" of conscience.  I worry deeply about a country that will successfully train some of its young men and women not to feel remorse.

Nick Gier