He was quoted as saying, "Whatever their fond sentiments for men and women in uniform, for most Americans the war remains an abstraction - a distant and unpleasant series of news items that do not affect them personally."
While Mr. Gates' point was to address low-volunteerism, statements like this are unproductive and, rather than causing people to act, tend to cause blind acceptance of the viewpoint. In this case, it can be dangerously damaging to the morale of our existing U.S. Forces in war zones.
Dear American Soldier;
I agree that war is an abstract concept to those of us who have never been there and experienced what you are going through, and to say that it doesn't affect most Americans personally is probably true. I blame the government because WWII proved that, with the use of media and policy, the government CAN rally all of America behind its troops. Casually saying that most of us aren't affected belies the fact that MANY of us ARE affected and it glosses over a situation that someone should be doing more about.
For every 1 of you soldiers serving in war, there are - at minimum - 4 family members and a handful of friends and acquaintances who daily worry about and pray for you. Most of you soldiers have a much larger family (including extended members who worry as much as mom, dad and siblings) and dozens of people in the workforce, churches, colleges, etc. whose lives are affected personally by your absence and have concern for you on a daily basis.
Based on figures from May 2010 as cited by the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/24/AR2010052403842.html)...
If, at minimum, 1 solder affects 10 people personally, then:
- The 94,000 troops in Afghanistan affect 940,000 Americans personally, and
- The 92,000 troops in Iraq affect 920,000 Americans personally.
That figure doesn't include:
- The families of the killed and injured soldiers who are still personally affected - daily
- The non-deployed military members working with soldiers in transition to and from theater (with or without injuries) who are personally affected - daily
- The military and VA medical staff caring for wounded and traumatized soldiers who are personally affected - daily
- Or the random number of patriotically driven Americans led to pray for soldiers they've never met who are personally affected - daily
So maybe MOST Americans aren't affected personally - and we have soldiers at war to thank for that - but remember the 1.8 million PLUS who ARE affected personally! In fact, because those 1.8 million people also have people concerned for them too, I'd wager the number - the minimum number - could be as high as 180 million Americans who are personally affected by a soldier in a war zone.
Don't feel forgotten! The level of "personal affect" will be different for each American depending on how close he or she is to you, soldier, but not everyone is sitting over here in the U.S. completely unaffected by what's going on overseas.
Many Americans ARE behind you!
Many Americans ARE praying for you!
Many Americans ARE personally affected and can't express enough the gratitude we feel for your selfless acts of patriotism and brotherhood to all peoples.
May you be blessed with success in your missions and the assurance that what you do is not in vain.
Sincerely,
One Personally Affected American
NOTE: This article was written and published by this blogger, Tracy A. Drake, and is NOT a reprint of another person's work.
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