The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

The University of Vermont's Independent Voice Since 1883

The Vermont Cynic

OK, I Guess the Outfits Are Kinda Snazzy

I recently read with much dismay Julian Brzzi’s recent column (White Makes Right), and especially your slap at the Armed Forces (Tired of Getting Wasted?). So, let’s look at your witty arguments one at a time – – “I will also have the opportunity to join another group of people with a very limited, juvenile vocabulary.”Exactly how many soldiers have you ever been around? Is all of your information from TV and stereotypes? Most soldiers today are exceptionally intelligent, as evidenced by the equipment they must use. They might not talk in poetry and prose all day, but living in the mud to defend your right to such foolishness will limit your conversational skills sometimes. – “I will have to change my lingo from ‘dude, pass that heady nug pon de left hand side’, to ‘dude, boats and guns are mad chill’ and ‘yes sir, I love peeling potatoes’, but I feel as though the transition can be a smooth one.”Once again, an amazingly astute observation of our military. I challenge you to go to any military base, for any service, and find such a soldier. Yes, there are tedious tasks, but so are there in college. I doubt you would ever seek out a soldier for a real conversation, though, as that would require you to open up your closed mind.- “By doing so, I can at the same time upset leftists due to my enlistment in the military industrial complex.”Do you really think it is all that monolithic? At the same time, do you equate the private corporations that make the weapons and the soldiers who serve, most of them idealistically, with each other?- “I need to find a new way to rebel against society while at the same time continuing to stunt my emotional growth. For this reason, and a multitude of others which should be clearly evident to all those literate enough to be reading this, I have decided to join the Navy.”Soldiers are the most emotionally mature people for their age I have ever met, or served with(yes, I belong to that EVIL military you love so much). Most have seen more with their young eyes than you ever could. They witness first hand death, desecration, and mutilation. Their wish to reverse such things is part of why they joined. True, it’s not always pretty, and it leaves psychological scars, but it shows more maturity than you have during your column.- “Plus, as the old saying goes, when you enlist in the armed forces, you get to go to interesting place, meet interesting people, and kill them. That sounds great. I hate interesting people because they make me feel like less of a man.”As a soldier who has been to war – recently – I can say with certainty that no one, absolutely no one, wants to avoid war more than the soldier. I had no desire to be pulled apart from my family (by the way, maybe you should trot on down to the nearest base as they ship out for deployment and see the tear stained faces of the families as mommy or daddy go off into harms way for God knows how long). I also had no desire to get shot at or shoot at others. However, there are things worth fighting for. The good the soldiers I have served with have done, especially recently, far outweighs your prejudiced view of them.- “The armed services seems like the perfect upgrade from grimy sketchball, because I want to grow up, but I hate the idea of getting mature.”I won’t go into the whole maturity argument again, but I must comment on the opportunity that the military gives most young adults. You see, most weren’t born into privilege like you were. Most didn’t have their future handed to them in college like you do. They have to work for it. Through the GI Bill(the greatest and most productive legislation Congress has ever passed), soldiers and sailors get the same opportunity at life that you do. Now I realize you’d prefer to spit at them for a long time, but they can now, through perseverance and hard work, get out from backgrounds not as blessed as yours and go on to become great members of society. A few of those “mature” people are listed below: 1. John Kerry 2. Wesley Clark 3. Colin Powell 4. George HW Bush 5. George McGovern 6. Dwight Eisenhower …to name but a few of many…Your very prejudiced view of the world will forever limit your sight if you don’t shake off such close-mindedness. Why don’t you take the time to get to know a few soldiers before dragging them down, instead of getting all of your view from stereotypes?It is the soldier, not the protester/reporter/lawyer/etc, who defends the freedom you use to condemn him. And he will continue to do so, whether you want him to or not.

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OK, I Guess the Outfits Are Kinda Snazzy