Ever since Rush Limbaugh said that the soldiers who speak out against the war are "phoney soldiers," I’ve been mulling about that. In a way, I feel like a "phoney soldier" myself, having spent my three years in the Military during the Viet Nam War in Europe. Even though I went where they sent me, I’ve had something like "survivor’s guilt" for not "really" going to Viet Nam – though at the time I was very opposed to that war. I think I would have had that same feeling if I had gone to Viet Nam, because as a Specialist Physician, I would have been a non-combatant. But, had I been there as a combatant, I would have felt even more guilty for fighting in a war I didn’t believe was right. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve understood that there was nothing back then that would’ve felt right for me. Having worked with a lot of veterans, I’m pretty sure that the not-right feeling is close to universal among soldiers. The one group that never talks about it are the people who evaded the service altogether. Rush Limbaugh is, in fact, such a person.
As a part of a project on P.T.S.D., I was drawn to the writings of veterans of World War I. The Viet Nam memoirs were so colored by the social unrest about that war, that I found the World War I accounts more private and unbiased by the milieu that the soldiers returned to. In those readings, I found that the not-right feeling transcends how one feels about war in general, or the war you fought in, or the war you were near but didn’t fight in, etc. The point is that war is an abnormal experience for civilized people. And my impression is that those who suffer most are people who respond by becoming un-civilized. It’s hard to get back. For Rush Limbaugh to describe people as "phoney" soldiers simply highlights the fact that he wasn’t ever a soldier [like Bush, Cheney. Rove, Rice, O’Reilly, Coulter, etc.].
But back to Rush Limbaugh. What he said is even more absurd than his usual drivel. Not that I think that he gives much thought to what he says. He starts with conclusions, then works his way backwards shaping reality to his foregone conclusions. It’s just his job. It’s what he does. So it’s silly to take him seriously. But in this case, what he’s saying is very hurtful to our troops. He’s saying that if you’ve decided, during your experience fighting in a war, that the war is wrong, you’re a "phoney." Of the seven thoughtful soldiers who wrote the New York Times op-ed arguing with this war, three are dead and one is critically wounded. They were supposed to be on their way home this month. Implying that they are "phoney soldiers" is unacceptible for a public figure, even a professional obnoxious guy like Rush. It’s the same sin that the overzealous hippies committed by deriding the returning Viet Nam veterans. Not that Rush cares, but shame on him.
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