Post-battle Welcome, Anthony Maschek

The indignity and lack of respect given to an honorable soldier who is a freshman at Columbia University brought back many bad memories of my days coming home from Vietnam. The heckling, the signs, the total disregard for this man’s service to his country during a time of war and disagreement was very similar to the same mistreatment thousands of Vietnam veterans endured and returned home to when stepping off that big silver bird bringing them home to what we thought was a civilized world where the reasons we fought to begin with was the freedoms and the ability to live in a democratic society where the laws of civilized men and women prevailed over the brutality we just left behind in a country shambled with violence, corruption and inhumane treatment of its populace. Never forgetting my own experiences in O’Hara airport where protestors spat on every soldier that passed by hurriedly on their way to their loved ones and family after serving their tour overseas.

This Columbia student, Anthony Maschek, is a hero. He is an example of good American men and women who volunteered to serve their country to protect it from all evil and foreign power whose goals are to disrupt, and dissolve democracy and the liberty of freedom. His courage to speak at a ROTC debate was quiet extraordinary as many would balk at such a request to go public with what is a well known stigma of being a “killer” in a very unpopular war. His war record is reflective of the many men and women who give their lives and limbs for the purpose of freedom. Ironically, this is the same kind of freedom that preserves the hecklers their right to speak out loud and demonstrate their distaste for soldiers or in this case, a hero.

The New York Post reported “Some students yelled "Racist!" at Anthony Maschek, a Columbia freshman and former army staff sergeant who was awarded the Purple Heart after being shot 11 times in a firefight in northern Iraq in February 2008.” As a veteran, I agree there are “evil men” out there to kill us. I agree our liberties are in danger and I agree that we need to be a strong nation, able to defend ourselves from the evils in this world.

The sad part is the hecklers are totally unaware of what kind of damage they are doing to this country and to these men and women who serve us so faithfully and with honor. They are totally unaware of the psychological impact such acts have and how it creates another barrier or hurdle to climb over along with those numerous barriers incurred during their time of service. Unaware these soldiers carry the burden of post battle traumas that only they can understand and live with.

Iraq, like Vietnam, is a very unpopular war and gives back nothing to compensate for the time spent in neither the military nor the destruction it brought upon our lives. At times, it leaves a man empty. The doctrine served under during a time of war is so different from being a citizen in a land of peace. The two dimensions are difficult to cope with as they often intermingle with each other within the mind any time of the day. Hecklers such as those in the Columbia group only add a third dimension to this trauma. The dimension unseen but that feels real inside the heart and soul of the person who is suffering from the guilt and manner he or she had to conduct or perform themselves during the time of war to preserve lives and keep others safe.

This first dimension, war, is a time of violence and bitterness as they desensitize their minds and their feelings to accomplish their mission. The second dimension, peace, is where they are allowed to become sensitive to human feelings and engage in meaningful relationships as well as becoming productive citizens of society; the same society that sent them off to a most political war to begin. These different dimensions are serious disparities in their lives and allow no parallels to be drawn between the past and the present. Being a wartime veteran, the war dimension never leaves your brain and stays there forever to haunt you till the day you die. In the meantime, you now must cope with the new dimension of peace and be as normal as you can be to function in a free society without any wish for violence. Confusing to say the least, it takes a tremendous amount of coping skills to overcome such a trauma. One way is how Anthony Maschek chose to address his feelings by stepping up and speaking out loud about something that had impacted his life. Other ways are support groups, family understanding and in some cases psychological help as well.

The Vietnam War, like the Iraq War, was a decision made by politicians to commit ‘their” armies to the world for peace. This commitment by the official powers of this land was based on what they thought was the right thing to do at the time the decision was made. This “themis”, is an important element of how we treat our soldiers, sailors and airmen and women when the come back from the war. It wasn’t their personal choice to fight a war. It was their mission to do so and do it with honor, and courage, representing the cause for freedom, liberty and democracy for all, including the hecklers.

As a war veteran, no one is asking anyone to agree or disagree with me or with this praiseworthy man called Anthony Mascheck. We pray for understanding. My motive for this editorial is simply this.  Veterans are tired of fighting in wars that appear to be politically driven and far away from home. There is no justice in these kinds of wars but the soldiers are victims as well. Volunteers, sacrificed to do the will of others, they are one of the main reasons we should elect reasonable and honorable men and women to our Congress as well as our President. Today, we are fighting in the name of terrorism and the enemy is faceless and hard to be seen but given the opportunity, they will destroy this land called America and if our people don’t understand that the threat is real, then there is no hope that this will ever end.

Source:

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/manhattan/hero_unwelcome_Zi3u1fwtRpo87vXAiAQfSN#ixzz1EVyrbaVz