Charlie Rangel has rankled the pride of many a military man or woman, and deserves to be ridiculed for his stupidity. But further, his comments, at least to me, seem to be not only stupid, in that he clearly misunderstands the character of those who willing choose to serve their country, but plainly mean-spirited and partisan, in that he casts the military in a light that reflects poorly on the war effort.
I have news for Charlie Rangel. He's wrong about the educational and career aspirations of our military men and women. I entered the United States Marine Corps Reserves while in college, and completed my education without financial assistance from the government. (Thanks to men like Charlie, my alma mater can't accept federal assistance.) Since being honorably discharged from the Corps after eight years, I have completed a second Bachelor's degree and obtained a Masters. I'm now a Business Analyst. I never once despaired of having a decent career, and never knew a single Marine that did.
Not only is Charlie wrong about the educational and career aspirations of our military men and women, he is wrong about American soldiers wanting to fight. Charlie Rangel doesn't understand the heartfelt desire to defend one's country, one's homeland, one's honor, and the duty a true patriot dwells upon to do so. I'm not sure how this happened, for he claims to be a decorated Korean War vet. I didn't shirk my duty when called up for service in the First Persian Gulf War; in fact, I was happy to go, I looked forward to it, as did the vast majority of my fellow reservists. I remember the drill when our commanding Captain stepped out to address the company and told us to stop volunteering, we'd all be going soon enough. The cheering, the ooooh-rahhh's, the grunting and barking from hard-charging Devil Dogs rang on the Parade Deck for several minutes. We all went, we all served, and we were all volunteers. Businessmen, shopkeepers, construction workers, attorneys, accountants, financial advisors, teachers, truck drivers, and a bunch of college students, volunteers all. None of us in poverty, none of us illiterate or lacking in education, none of us forced to join by circumstances beyond our control. We joined because we wanted to. It's not that we enjoy fighting, we are simply proud to defend America.
Surprisingly, Charlie did, somehow, utter a single truth in the midst of all his blather. "No bright young individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits." He's right, there, as much as it pains me to say it. Charlie's right, but don't ask him why. In his world, only dumb young individuals who come from communities experiencing very, very high unemployment, and who have no hope of having a decent career want to fight for a bonus and education benefits. In my opinion, Charlie's no patriot, he's a patronizing ideologue spewing anti-American, anti-military, class-warfare hatriol. In Charlie's world, the best military force in the history of warfare is made up of dumb young individuals that had no other option than to volunteer to serve their country unwillingly, or just to get enough money to go to college. Charlie's ignoring reality to give his views a semblance of plausibility to which no one with a shred of intellectual honesty is about to give credence.
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