Sunday, December 27, 2009

Since I never got to use it...

Here's the essay I planned to submit with my Yale app, and an addendum with some thought that wouldn't quite fit. (It's unedited and unrevised. So don't laugh at me.)

Listening to this song while you read it would be appropriate.

My teacher asked our Social Studies class if we knew any veterans or servicemen. A few kids raised their hands and said that their grandfathers had fought in World War II or their parents had fought in Vietnam. When she called on me, I started listing names.

“My great-grandfather fought in World War I. He worked on the railways that were built to bring supplies and troops to the front lines. My uncle Bob was stationed in Germany after World War II. And my aunt is a colonel in the Air Force. She went into the Second Gulf War right after my cousin was born.” I explained all of this matter-of-factly. My aunt and uncle enlisted because they wanted college money, and my great-grandfather had been drafted. None had much of a choice.

When my teacher started talking about how proud we all should be of our military relatives, I was somewhat confused. I thought of myself as fairly patriotic. I took the Pledge of Allegiance seriously each morning and identified my ethnicity as simply “American”. I never thought, though, about what that meant.

Two years ago, two cousins joined the military. Sue enrolled in the Naval Academy and Charlie went to Parris Island, South Carolina, for his training to be a Marine. There was a period of two months when Sue was at Plebe Summer and Charlie was at Parris Island during which we barely heard from either of them. I wrote a letter to Charlie telling him I hoped training wasn’t too hard. In the letter I got back, Charlie wrote in small, slanted handwriting that the worst part was the heat.

I later found out that at Parris Island, they put new recruits through hell—they run them hard and force them to push through workouts with little food and sleep. Charlie only told us that the worst part was the heat.

At the end of the summer, Sue was a midshipman and Charlie was a Marine. For a long time, I didn’t understand why they would willingly join the military. I knew that both had been put through tough conditions. Yes, they both succeeded, but why had they joined at all?
I understand now. I have pictures of Sue and Charlie in their dress uniforms at their respective ceremonies. Their uniforms are both navy blue and buttoned securely right up to their necks. But the most essential similarity between them is the look in their eyes. They aren’t just my cousins any more, aren’t just twenty-somethings trying to have fun. They are soldiers. They have been charged with fighting for this country to the death if need be, and I can’t help but be proud. While Charlie was going through I would consider torture, his only complaint was that South Carolina was hot in the middle of summer. When I see them in those pictures, I feel a patriotism that reaches far beyond saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I am proud that my country embodies virtues like democracy and freedom to such an extent that people are willing to fight for it.


I know some people who read this will scoff and point to the HUGE MAJOR problems with the US today. Don't get me wrong, I strongly agree that they exist. (I'm a feminist. and pro-choice. and a ---.) And I think they should be addressed. But we have it so fucking good here. The US military does do good things. No, the US doesn't have the best foreign policy track record. There are so many things we have here, though, that you couldn't find anywhere else.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The video you posted made me gag, but I liked the essay you wrote. Very honest of you :)

By the way, this is a video depiction of Parris Island. I didn't think it was exaggerated when I first saw it, but now that I've read your essay I'm sure it's not exaggerated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8Nf1MK7lts

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