Unemployed and Gray? Truly, Uncle Sam Wants You
They are desperate. How else can I explain the fact that I am 54 years old and the military is trying to recruit me?
The Naval Reserve found my résumé on monster.com where I posted it in August
2001. Of course, my age is not on my résumé, but a smart person can look at my dates of employment and figure out this is a pretty old nurse, well into middle age and all of its concerns about osteoporosis, bifocals and memory loss.
With enthusiasm the e-mail from the Navy declares, "One of the greatest benefits of joining our force is that you won't have to sacrifice your personal life to serve. Your training sessions will almost always be with the Naval Reserve unit located closest to your home."
Yes, and pigs can fly and the stop-loss orders are working so well, they won't need to pull up any more reserves and send them to Iraq. Well, they do say, "almost always ... closest to your home." They do give themselves wiggle room. But these days the military has no credibility. The call-up of the reserves to active duty and the stop-loss policy of not allowing troops to leave the military once they've fulfilled their duty has destroyed the military's credibility.
Which may be why they've had to go to monster.com for recruitment. Which is impressive in a pathetic sort of way. Despite the dearth of resources, such as the lack of armor for vehicles in Iraq, the military remains resourceful.
If the justness of the cause -- democracy in Iraq -- doesn't inspire people to sign up, the military will recruit them from the ranks of the unemployed, hoping that with our slack economy, a résumé posted three years ago might lead them to a person still unemployed. Which makes me wonder, if the American people are truly supporting this war, why aren't more people signing up to fight it?
Probably because they're not willing to give up their limbs for a prosthesis and their lives for glory. And because there are so many casualties in this war, medical workers are badly needed. So why are they being squandered on the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay? This is where the International Committee of the Red Cross charges that the U.S. military intentionally used psychological and physical torture with the assistance of doctors and other medical workers. Which is another reason why today's military is not the place for me. I do not want to place myself at risk of being implicated in a system of torture. Where's the glory in that?
On the other hand, I might like to go to Guantanamo Bay. I would like to take care of prisoners there because I love democracy and I want to demonstrate to the Arab countries that democracy is different from Saddam Hussein's torture chambers; democracy requires prisoners to be charged with crimes and forbids the use of cruel and unusual punishment. Democracy may be a hard job, but someone has to do it and the military hasn't.
So if I show up at the recruiting office with my gray hair, wearing my bifocals, popping calcium tablets, will they sigh with relief, promise me all my trainings will be near my grandchildren and sign me up? Will they be willing to write in a clause that the stop-loss policy wouldn't apply to me?
I know I can't trust this military. I know they are misleading me and hoping I won't notice. But why are they trying to recruit an old person? Why is the military desperate?
Reva Rasmussen lives in St. Paul.
12/27/04 "Star Tribune"
The Naval Reserve found my résumé on monster.com where I posted it in August
2001. Of course, my age is not on my résumé, but a smart person can look at my dates of employment and figure out this is a pretty old nurse, well into middle age and all of its concerns about osteoporosis, bifocals and memory loss.
With enthusiasm the e-mail from the Navy declares, "One of the greatest benefits of joining our force is that you won't have to sacrifice your personal life to serve. Your training sessions will almost always be with the Naval Reserve unit located closest to your home."
Yes, and pigs can fly and the stop-loss orders are working so well, they won't need to pull up any more reserves and send them to Iraq. Well, they do say, "almost always ... closest to your home." They do give themselves wiggle room. But these days the military has no credibility. The call-up of the reserves to active duty and the stop-loss policy of not allowing troops to leave the military once they've fulfilled their duty has destroyed the military's credibility.
Which may be why they've had to go to monster.com for recruitment. Which is impressive in a pathetic sort of way. Despite the dearth of resources, such as the lack of armor for vehicles in Iraq, the military remains resourceful.
If the justness of the cause -- democracy in Iraq -- doesn't inspire people to sign up, the military will recruit them from the ranks of the unemployed, hoping that with our slack economy, a résumé posted three years ago might lead them to a person still unemployed. Which makes me wonder, if the American people are truly supporting this war, why aren't more people signing up to fight it?
Probably because they're not willing to give up their limbs for a prosthesis and their lives for glory. And because there are so many casualties in this war, medical workers are badly needed. So why are they being squandered on the prisoners at Guantanamo Bay? This is where the International Committee of the Red Cross charges that the U.S. military intentionally used psychological and physical torture with the assistance of doctors and other medical workers. Which is another reason why today's military is not the place for me. I do not want to place myself at risk of being implicated in a system of torture. Where's the glory in that?
On the other hand, I might like to go to Guantanamo Bay. I would like to take care of prisoners there because I love democracy and I want to demonstrate to the Arab countries that democracy is different from Saddam Hussein's torture chambers; democracy requires prisoners to be charged with crimes and forbids the use of cruel and unusual punishment. Democracy may be a hard job, but someone has to do it and the military hasn't.
So if I show up at the recruiting office with my gray hair, wearing my bifocals, popping calcium tablets, will they sigh with relief, promise me all my trainings will be near my grandchildren and sign me up? Will they be willing to write in a clause that the stop-loss policy wouldn't apply to me?
I know I can't trust this military. I know they are misleading me and hoping I won't notice. But why are they trying to recruit an old person? Why is the military desperate?
Reva Rasmussen lives in St. Paul.
12/27/04 "Star Tribune"
posted by R7 | 12/28/2004 08:59:00 PM
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