I once was assigned to a military office in Ohio where we were outnumbered two-to-one by civil servants. As required, we advertised a GS-12 vacancy to be filled when the incumbent retired in a few months. In fact, we already knew who we were going to hire, just had to go through the formalities as required by civil service rules. Ron had a spotless record and came highly recommended. In addition, he had a leg up on the other candidates as he was a Vietnam Veteran.
During a lull in my interview with him, he told me a story. He was a draftee sent to Vietnam immediately after his basic training. His platoon was sent on a scouting and reconnaissance mission into the jungle a few miles from their base. As he was walking along a narrow trail surrounded by heavy foliage, he turned a corner and was face-to-face with a North Vietnamese soldier. He had never before seen an enemy soldier. He was in shock not really knowing what to do. Out of reflex he pulled the trigger and killed the North Vietnamese soldier.
As his fellow soldiers searched the body for weapons, ammo, anything of intelligence value, one of them pulled a photo from the dead soldier’s pocket and handed it to Ron. It was a photo of a young Vietnamese woman holding a baby in her arms. Standing next to her with his arm around her was the soldier Ron had just killed. Ron still carried the photo and said he always would. He said from that day forward he realized that if he lined up an enemy soldier in his sights he would be killing not a soldier, but a family.
Every army has had a significant number of undesirables. Our army today is no different. Some enlist for economic reasons, unable to find a job. Even worse, some enlist knowing that if they exert just a minimum amount of effort and stay out of serious trouble they will be able to serve 20 years with good pay, full medical and dental coverage and then retire with a good monthly check and subsidized medical care from either the DoD or the VA or both.
Thankfully, there is a larger group who serve with honor. They don’t watch the clock or expect overtime pay. They serve their country even when they strongly disagree with it, as in Vietnam. They respect their enemy and actually hate war as they have seen its horror. The German Air Force in both WWI and WWII saw themselves as the inheritors of the Teutonic Code. Going into battle in metal machines rather than on horses. One German squadron commander in WWII when interviewing his new pilots told them one of his unbreakable rules. He said if he ever heard that one of them had shot at an enemy in a parachute or strafed a surviving pilot on the ground he would personally execute the man. Our allied Air Force operated under a similar code of conduct.
On Black Thursday, 14 October, 1943, the Air Force suffered the greatest disaster in its history. In a raid over Schweinfurt, Germany, 60 B-17s were shot down. The surviving aircrews grieved the loss of their friends but were back in the air a few days later. They honored their comrades by throwing themselves back into the fray. There have always been those who answer the call to Duty….Honor….Country. There always will be.
Author: Staff
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