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A long, long time ago:
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And we used to use our soldiers for higher purposes:
In the 19th century, West Point was a great foundry of nation-building. Established by President Thomas Jefferson in 1802, the academy provided the best engineering education in the United States. The first superintendent was Jonathan Williams, an engineer and former aide to Benjamin Franklin.
Most of the classroom time at West Point was spent on scientific pursuits, rather than the study of battles. A British writer predicted that, “In a short time, the United States, though with a very small army, will be able to boast of a much larger body of scientific and well-educated officers than any other country in the world.”
...and we've moved from that to no-bid contracts to feed our soldiers for little other reason than to enrich private contractors.
...and we've learned how to become the invaders. From Korea to Vietnam to Grenada to Afghanistan to Iraq.
...and, oh, how we've learned to kill. Almost randomly from 30,000 feet based on what is euphemistically called intelligence.
I used to contemplate the military as a career. I remember feeling honored to receive a pamphlet telling me that West Point was an option of mine, a long, long time ago. Being young(er) and (still) foolish, I decided to take another path.
I still remember reading a lot of WWII-based war comics (DC) and remember the MWNM button appearing on the pages of some of them. That used to make sense (and still does to me...) unless we, as a nation, decided that we want endless war.
Are we better off as a nation with that as our goal? It's a valid question.
A question that I will ask myself on a daily basis until my nephew is 40 years old...
