Mark Twain

Loyalty to the country always, loyalty to the government when it deserves it.

At times when I become disillusioned with my country, its government, and its military I try to take in a breath and remember this sentence. I recently learned that a neighbour's son, who is in Special Forces, went through POW training. When I first heard this I immediately said how essential that is; to equip these men and women with the tools they will need to survive an ordeal of that nature. I assumed that the training would involve lectures from former prisoners of war and in-depth discussions of what sort of torture may occur and how to remain mentally strong. I imagined a room full of soldiers reading Epictetus. However, that is not how my country chose to go about this training. No, our neighbour's son was taken out in the middle of Nowhere, North Carolina where he would be taken "hostage" by fellow soldiers, beaten, tortured, and sleep deprived. What in the hell is wrong with the U.S. military? One may argue that it's a necessary course of action in order to best prepare the soldier. Horse shit. There's a damn good chance that some of those men and women will be shot during their tour; so should each individual be shot during basic training? An enormous number of female soldiers, Marines, and sailors may be raped; should that also be something to add to one's training at boot camp? Why no, that's barbaric! As is the POW training that was described to me. And what about the soldiers that are the ones kidnapping and torturing their so-called brothers in arms? What are the psychological repercussions? I am disgusted to think that something like that is going on in my country. (deep breath) Loyalty to the country always, loyalty to the government when it deserves it.