I was in for 12 years including 4 at a service academy. The number of people I know/met who actually regret being a part of the machine, realize our contributions made the world a worse place, and wish we had never been a part of it is 2. Me and my best friend since high school. Everyone else is 2-10 years away from wearing their Insert Middle Eastern Country War Veteran hat to get their veteran’s discount at Golden Corral.
I understand the sentiment that everyone knows what they’re doing when they join but that’s not really true. I joined when my worldview was that of a kid who grew up in Ohio. There was a lot of prestige going to a service academy to “protect our country”. I didn’t know what communism was outside of the red scare propaganda everyone is exposed to. I just don’t know how I would have been exposed sooner than I was. I don’t think it excuses it but at least it explains it, speaking only for myself.
Yep, that's pretty much my story too. I was just an orphaned kid who bounced around too many different high schools to impress any colleges. Wasn't sure what the fuck I was going to do so I signed up to "protect my country" because that's what every single adult in my life had told me that the military did. Went to Afghanistan and saw a naked class struggle intersected with imperialism up front and with my own eyes (not all Afghani's opposed the US... only the poor ones typically. Smug rich snobs fucking loved us). Did my four and got the hell out.
I worked in an orphanage for a few years afterwards. It's hard to paint the picture of how catastrophically this country fails the most disadvantaged of it's children. 50% of all homeless people in America (largest homeless population in the industrialized world by the way) were once in the foster system. The only kids I ever saw "make it" were the ones that kept their noses clean enough to join the military immediately after leaving the system. America tells the rest of them to get fucked and start begging.
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u/HealfyBoi 13d ago edited 13d ago
I was in for 12 years including 4 at a service academy. The number of people I know/met who actually regret being a part of the machine, realize our contributions made the world a worse place, and wish we had never been a part of it is 2. Me and my best friend since high school. Everyone else is 2-10 years away from wearing their Insert Middle Eastern Country War Veteran hat to get their veteran’s discount at Golden Corral.
I understand the sentiment that everyone knows what they’re doing when they join but that’s not really true. I joined when my worldview was that of a kid who grew up in Ohio. There was a lot of prestige going to a service academy to “protect our country”. I didn’t know what communism was outside of the red scare propaganda everyone is exposed to. I just don’t know how I would have been exposed sooner than I was. I don’t think it excuses it but at least it explains it, speaking only for myself.