I’m a fan of Veterans Day. We as a nation – and we as individuals – should honor the service of those among us who go into the military and do whatever they are assigned to do in defense of our country, whether that be a commissary clerk at Fort Riley or a Navy Seal in Kanduhar. Even when I disagree with many of the deployments across the world (most often), I respect that the military personnel – especially the grunts – are in no way responsible for that. I learned this firsthand when I taught for a University of Maryland program in Germany for the military and families. But I also learned about why most of those who “choose to serve” (in the parlance of Veterans Day) in our voluntary army do so. And it’s not patriotic duty, as you might think if you take in the memorials and furniture sale ads today. (If so, only 1% of the population answers the call of patriotic duty. That should give us pause.) No, most who go into the armed services (at least since the end of the draft 40 years ago) do so for financial reasons – either they can’t find a decent-paying job here in the U.S. or (as with my soldier-students) they seek an affordable path to a college degree. There were even some (a surprise to me) who were there because a judge had given them the choice between the military and jail. Yes, all military members deserve our thanks. But many also deserve our apology for putting them in the financial position of not really having a choice to serve.
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