In February of 1953, on my nineteenth birthday, I was drafted to become a soldier in the United States Army to serve during the Korean Conflict. When a person is drafted into the service, his employer is obligated to save his job for him, so that when the conflict is over and he is discharged, his job would be waiting for him when he returns. The war with North Korea wasn’t called a war but rather a ‘Conflict’; to this day I do not know the difference? I’m not sure anyone knew the difference, it looked like war, it smelled like war, guns, grenades and bombs were being used to kill people, so it sounded like war, as well. It was a war, regardless of what it was called and, at the time, I had no idea why we were in a war with North Korea. I didn’t even know where Korea was at the time I was drafted. We had just finished one war and the Federal Government probably did not want this to become anything like the Second World War, but it was a fight to, supposedly, preserve human freedom. Looking back, it occurred to me that none of us really knew why we might soon be fighting and possibly dying, in a place called Korea.
I had been a National Guardsman for three years, as a very young person, 13 -16 years old. I had already been through the same training I was now going back to, only three years later and even at the same place at Fort Lewis Washington, near Seattle. Was I afraid of being sent into battle and dying for something that I never really understood? No! I did not think of dying nor did I believe that I was going to. At least not until we were through with our basic training and were waiting to see our orders. The orders would tell each of us where we were going to be sent from Ft Lewis as ready combat soldiers. Most of the battalion of men, which I was one of, were in fact, sent to Korea. Many of whom may have died there; I have no idea. However, it was at that time, that I realized that I, too, could have been on that list. I could have been sent to Korea and never come back alive. Fortunately for me, I, along with twenty seven others, were sent to another military training school to become Military Policemen. I have sometimes wondered what might have gone through the minds of those sent to Korea. Were they thinking of and afraid that they might lose their lives. That they may never have an opportunity to see their families again, to marry, to have children, etc.? The whole idea of war seems so stupid, just what was it that our young men were fighting and dying for? Mahatma Gandhi said, “An Eye for an Eye only ends up making the whole world blind.” I have often read and loved the poem ‘In Flanders Field’ by John McCrae, portraying what’s left after World War I:
“In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow”
Obviously, the President of this great country thought being involved in this war (conflict) was important and worth it. I only know that it was apparently fought to stop the forceful spread of Communism. I believe it did do that, even though we did not win the conflict, we never lost either. if you look at it from the perspective of 50- 60 years later, there are many reasons nations have gone to war. History teaches that whenever humans band together believing they are in sole possession of truth, disaster looms. If such a group grows enough, and if it gains both power and war machines, it will most likely cause serious disruptions leading to mayhem, even mass murder. This is especially true of religious groups and other fanatics. Their claim to exclusive possession of truth, leads them to believe that God wants them to destroy other groups deemed heretical. Beside civil wars, religious wars, historically, tend to be most atrocious. ‘Christians In Name Only’ (CINO’s) have been guilty. The Nazis, fascists started a war in CINO clothing. And the persecution of Jews by CINOs has gone on for 2,000 years. The Jihadist Muslims were possibly the initiators of the last war. War is far from being a new concept. Nations are not much different than are young boys in schoolyard scuffles, in many respects, however fists and takedowns seldom kill. I understood the concept of “Either you or I”; one of us is going to lose this fight. I had been in a few, school yard fights, in my youth, and I can assure you that, even on that scale, win or lose, no one walks away unscathed.
Winston Churchill said; “We must not regard war, with modern weapons, as a kind of game in which we may take a hand, and with good luck and good management may play adroitly for an evening and come safely home with our winnings. It is not that, and I rejoice that it cannot be that. …war cannot be anything but a cruel, heartrending struggle, which, if we are ever to enjoy the bitter fruits of victory, must demand, perhaps for several years, the whole manhood of the nation, the entire suspension of peaceful industries, and the concentrating to one end, of every vital energy in the community. War can only end in the ruin of the vanquished and the scarcely less fatal commercial dislocation and exhaustion of the conquerors. …The wars of peoples will be more terrible than those of kings.”
Soldiers are honored for their bravery in battle, they are given medals to pin on their uniforms so all can see and admire. There are many kinds of bravery and I appreciate what Thomas Priest, a professor at Weber State University said; “…we know that our world is full of injustice. Some individuals experience greater freedoms than others. And what does it mean to be brave? Does bravery mean risking death in war or risking death in peace? I believe our bravery must take new forms outside the bounds of warfare. If we are truly brave, we will strive for a beautiful world with peace and justice for all. …If we are truly brave, we will take risks that will seek peaceful collaborations with other nations instead of responding with violence.”
Then another point of view came from John Stuart Mill who wrote, ‘War’. He was a 19th Century philosopher, economist and academic. Yet he understood the nature of war. “War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things,” said Mill. “The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.”
May God bless us all to be brave as described by Thomas Priest (above), for with today’s technology, the next war could be the last for this beautiful little planet earth that we all call home. At the same time ‘Mill’ is also correct. There are some things worth fighting for, such as life, liberty or freedom.
I remember reading about the war between Israel and the Philistines and how it was agreed that if one man from one side were to agree to come out against one man from the other side, the war would be settled by who ever won that battle. In 1 Samuel 17:9, Goliath the Giant said; speaking to the Israel side, “If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants… and vice versa.” In such a conflict only one will die not 60,000. However, very few countries would be willing to leave their fate and future, in the hands of one man. But in the case of David and Goliath, with David’s faith, he became the giant and Goliath the underdog, the one who had little chance.
Konrad Lorenz wrote a book, ‘On Aggression’. He stated that in the last 100 years, nearly 60,000,000 persons have died in wars. He wanted his readers to know that all those people were killed by other people. He felt that killing was as baffling today as it was when Cain slew Abel. People and governments, go to war to punish, not to kill, but our tools of war are hardly toys and death is inevitable. “The smile leaves the face when the blood runs down the leg.” The larger the number of casualties the greater incentive to continue the war and to get even and on and on. Lorenz wonders if there is any hope of redirecting personal and country aggression? If we do not Albert Einstein’s prediction may come true; “I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
If justice prevails, the aggressor will always lose, because the peacemakers will be ready with the proper deterrents. The peace lover will have the biggest bat and the meanest look. Lorenz suggested that countries evolve from war to athletic competition. Friendly athletic competition between nations, nations working together to eradicate crime, disease, nations working together and laughing together. Laughing men seldom shoot. Someone else has said; “Men are created to live in unity and Par, teach them to be better or bear with them as they are.” Hopefully we will learn, together, to be better.