Uncertain

When it comes to recruitment, organizations use many different tactics to try to get people to join. They may do it by using poems that stir us emotionally. They may do it by giving financial rewards or they may do it by using music. One of the ways that the US government recruit soldier is by promising ideals via the television set. Such tactic can be found in the wordings of a recent US Army and Marines recruitment ad.

US army Recruitment Commercial

Webster defines strong as having great physical power,

As having moral or intellectual power,

As striking or superior of its kind,

But with all due respect to Webster,

There’s strong.

And then there’s army strong.

It is a strength like none other.

It is a physical strength.

It is an emotional strength.

It is a strength of character,

And strength of purpose.

The strength to do good today,

And the strength to do well tomorrow.

The strength to obey.

And strength to command.

The strength to build, and strength to tear down.

The strength to get yourself over,

And strength to get over yourself.

There is nothing on this green earth,

That is strong than the US Army,

Because there is nothing on this green earth,

That is stronger than a US Army Soldier.

Army Strong.

Source: YouTube

Marines Recruiting Commercial

For Honor.

For Courage.

For Country.

The Few.

The Proud.

The Marines

Source: YouTube

The words are very powerful because they are broad. They do not tell us much about the missions that the soldiers embark on everyday. It gives us a general meaning so that we can fill in our own reason for joining. In addition, the music is powerful. It excites us emotionally so that we may decide to join. The imagery is powerful. It tells us these men are very respected and looked up to.

What are some reasons why a person might decide to join? It could be out of patriotism because they would like to contribute to the country they are living in. It could be out of self worth because they have no achieved much in their lifetime. It could be out of financial reasons because they can’t afford to pay for college tuitions. The list is endless. Whatever the reason may be, what they do not know is that their decision on a whim is a contract meant to be fulfilled by years and not by days. What they do not know is that many soldiers who come back from war suffer schizophrenia and nightmares that haunts them in the day.

I once thought about joining the army. I believe I would have joined it if I saw the commercial during my contemplation week. But now that I have passed that thought, I do not think it would have been a wise decision because I lacked knowledge. I was not prepared for the possible effects. I would not have made an informed decision. These are all tactics that prevents recruitment tactics from misleading us. I lacked every one of those components.

As I was reading through my Google Reader account, an article which relates to the two themes mentioned in the previous entry caught my attention. I found the article listed in the BBC World News, The Age World Headlines, and USA Today. Provided is a summary of the event.

An American convoy was under attack by suspected Al-Qaeda fighters near the town of Iskandariya, 50 km from the Iraqi capital. US soldiers called for air support and warplanes flew into the scene. After the warplanes arrived, they fired at the enemies who were hiding in the buildings. The attack killed nine Iraqi civilians in the process.

Source: BBC World News

The death of Iraqi civilians relates to the two themes. The first theme mentions that “War affects people directly and indirectly.” Typically, civilians do not go into battle. They only go into battle if they voluntarily enrolled themselves or are forced to. In this situation, they are indirectly affected by the war because their lives are at stake when the battle occurs in their area of residence. The fear of being attacked again in a middle of a battle will cause psychological damage (Theme II “War affects us psychologically”).

There are many questions that are raised in my head when I read this article. Who is responsible when US solider unintentionally kills Iraqi civilians? In the US states, unintentional killing has consequences. The sentence may not be as harsh as intentional killing, however, the consequences is still severe. Is it fair for Iraqi government to hold US responsible when their attacks are acted based on retaliation? The enemy is at a higher advantage than the US because they do not have to exercise care for citizens in an attack. It seems it is more difficult when you are fighting a group within a country rather than the country. Enemy lines are not clear so more care must be placed on operations.

Last week in my English class, we had to read “Testament of Youth” by Vera Britain. After reading the book, the class discussed main themes that were prevalent. One theme that caught my attention while reading the book was “War affects people directly and indirectly.” This theme was also mentioned in our class discussion. In addition, another theme that caught my attention was “War affects people psychologically.” The two themes made me realize that the effect of war affects a greater number of people than we realize.

The theme, “War affects people directly and indirectly,” tells us that war affects those who are in the war and those who are not involved in the war. One way to have indirect connection with the war is by having some type of relationship with those who are in the war. It could be family, friends, or relatives. The second theme, “War affects people psychologically,” talks about the mental and emotional side of war. War worries those who know people who are in the war. They fear that their friends will be killed. They fear that they will not see their partner in the future.

When I was reading the book, one of the passages that emotionally lifted me was when Vera Britain described her dream of her husband being dead. In her dream, a group of men was chit chatting in a circle. Standing in one corner, said she “Somehow I realized that the people I the room were speaking of Roland.” Then she heard one of them yell out “He is dead: he has died of wounds in France.” She hurried over and demanded that who was dead and quickly found out that it was not Roland. Instead, the name was Donald Neale. She described, “I awoke, feeling very limp, staring at the window and repeating to myself in a kind of ecstasy: “That wasn’t his name! It’s all a mistake. It isn’t true-thank god” (pg. 168). After reading the passage, it made me question who suffers more in war, those who are in the war or those who know someone who is in the war. Soldiers are torn physically and mentally when they are engaged in battle. Friends, family, and relatives are torn mentally when they do not hear from their love ones. Some may say that soldiers suffer more because they suffer physically. But I would disagree because physical pains sometimes help numb the mental torture that is given off by our thoughts of despair and hopelessness…

It is easy to look at war from a negative point of view. It is so easy that a person who has never been in a war can describe vividly why war should not exist. If war is so negative then why do sound men who have experienced the effects of war still have their country go into war once they are in a position of power? What are the positives that comes out of war? One of the positive effects of war is change. These are the questions that I will try to decipher in my blogs.  I will try to offer my insight and give both side of a story.  I will not be pessimistic nor will I be optimistic in my writings. Rather, I will try to be realistic and provide a foundation for my questionings and answers.

The sources that I will use to feed my blog will be Al Jazeera, BBC World News, USA Today, Taipei Times, and The Age World headlines. Although BBC World News is considered to less biased compare to other media source, I chose to have numerous source of media because most of the time, the stories that appear on their website also appears in another website. By reading the same story from different media source, it will help me to different what is factual and what is biased reporting. In addition, I have chosen Michael Yon Magazine for my military blog and two websites called “The Editor’s Desk” and “Tara’s Tale” for my military podcast. Michael Yon has written extensively about the war and his writings has also appeared in the New York Times. I am looking for to reading his work. As for the “Editor’s Desk” and “Tara’s Tale”, I have heard some of reporting on their website and the coverage that the website have covers diverse topics. I am also looking forward to listening to their website.