Reflections of Honor

One thing that surprised me about our "military service as a condition for citizenship" discussion was how many of my peers had been raised to fear the military or at least military service. I was never brought up this way. The military took my grandfather, who grew up on a farm without indoor plumbing, put him through school and got him a doctorate in oceanographic geology to lay microphones on the ocean floor. The GI bill pulled my family off the farm and gave us a better life. We have never forgotten this fact.

My grandfather didn't want my dad to go into the military. When my grandfather went in, it was to give his children a better life. The military is great at moving people from poor to middle class. By the time my father was of age, his family was middle class. The military wouldn't move him forward, wouldn't give him a better life. So my grandfather pushed him to go to college to further advance himself.

What's more the culture of the south is very pro military. This almost militant attitude has roots all the way back to reconstruction. In the early years after the civil war (the war of northern aggression) the south was an occupied country. For many years joining the military was the only way to get ahead in society. Military service held a great deal of honor and respect.

I grew up playing army men and it has definitely influenced my opinions today.