Call of Duty

/ May 20, 2014

Read what this Kansas graduate had to say before heading to World War II and think hard. Thanks, Kerbey.

I Don't Get It

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In 1943, the USA was smack dab in the middle of WWII, and graduating college students were faced with the inevitable: enlistment. A cartoon in the Jayhawker magazine shows the four steps awaiting them: graduation and swearing in…

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…securing fatigues and heading into combat.

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How frustrating it must have been to finally achieve graduation, to fill your head with knowledge, only to head into a war where it may be blown off.

One departing student shared these words:

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51 thoughts on “Call of Duty”

  3. I am going to say just one thing, then I will shut the hell up:

    The men and women serving today, deserve more respect than those of ‘That Greatest Generation.”
    Those of that ‘Great Generation” did not have as much to lose…to ‘give up’ as it were.
    They had squalid lives for the most part. Why not go to war? Beats life on the farm.
    Those kids who went today, and last month, or three or four or five, or seven years ago, gave up (willingly) far too much more: Computer games, hot meals, MTV, Sex, et cetera.

    Ponder that one, before you dast tell me how great thou wern’t, vis a vis ‘them’.

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    • I fail to see any glory in calling the lives of previous generations “squalid” Lance, nor in attempting to judge which generation gave up more to go to war.

      All gave up everything tthey had here to go there, as far as I can tell.

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      • You are correct Sir.
        My point was…I get so sick and tired of our current forces being disparaged for not being “the greatest”
        I suppose we are free to disagree.
        So, delete my diatribe. Rachel just pushed a button.
        I am sorry.
        I will not darken this door again.

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    • Again, I apologize for “pushing a button.” I don’t think I meant what you thought I meant. I think ANYONE who risks their lives to protect others, be it military personnel, fire fighters, police, etc., are HEROES and deserve nothing less than our respect and our thanks.

      I come from a military family. My grandad was an officer in the Air Force in WWII. My great uncle was a German POW in WWII. My uncle was an Army Sgt. / Green Beret in Vietnam and lost his hearing there. My birth father was injured on his way to Vietnam and was sent home, then spit on getting off the plane. I’ve got a cousin and a nephew over there now, one on his second tour. I actually just wrote a book about a Marine in Afghanistan. My brother was in the Coast Guard for a number of years. A boy that grew up in my home is in the Navy now.

      I absolutely never meant to imply that kids today IN the armed forces are lazy or have no respect. I mean that kids today IN GENERAL are more lackadaisical than they used to be. As you pointed out, today they have computer games, hot meals, etc., where they used to have to work on a farm — which is hard work. The ones in the military today are taught pride and respect that their peers should have as well. I see a lot of kids today (not military personnel) that don’t even know how many states we have, much less what their armed forces are fighting to defend. MANY of the kids my kids bring home have no idea WHAT the title to our national anthem is, much less that they are supposed to stand and remove their hat when it is played. These kids do not know the words to the Pledge of Allegiance. Yet the thing they all have in common is I want, I deserve and I have rights. I am talking about a LOT of kids that I know personally. And I think it’s very sad that they aren’t being taught these things either at school or at home. If the kids where you live aren’t this way, then that is awesome. That’s just one more reason to put Florida up on the list of one of the worst states in our union.

      So again, please accept my apologies for our misunderstanding. And please know that I do appreciate your work and sacrifices for our country. 🙂

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      • Rachel,
        I truly never meant to offend either. I just got heated up and I failed to read between your lines…
        Again, I am sorry.
        I over-reacted.
        My Father served in Korea.
        My uncle got shot (twice) in Vietnam.
        My cousins are Army Rangers.
        I was a Sailor.
        It is all good.
        Peace and love for you.
        Nothing else.

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  7. What a great post! I inherited a lot of my grandfather’s (really my dad) stuff from WWII, including all his old “journals” he wrote while stationed in Japan, and it was horrific there for those kids. He was enrolled in Emory and wanted to be a surgeon, but quit to join the Army Air Corps (now know as the Air Force). Kids back then had so much more pride in themselves and their families and their country. Thanks for sharing! 😀

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      • I apologize. I have cousins over there now (Army), and a pseudo son who’s currently serving in the Navy. Yes, the kids in the military ARE respectable. I was referring to the rest of ’em such as the kid in the essay above who was going to enlist. For example, I offer my own two kids who are young adults and can’t put the cellphone down long enough to show someone respect when they are speaking to them. And of course, I don’t technically mean ALL kids are like that. Just that the general attitude has changed to one of “I expect things immediately” because of technology. And by the way, THANK YOU for serving! I know it’s not easy being away from home and putting your life on the line. And I appreciate your work. You are a hero! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

      • Thank you for your service LA. We need people like you, but at the same time it makes me angry that our world leaders are getting us into these wars that have been going on since biblical times. My solution to the problem is to let the world leaders fight it out in a boxing ring, winner takes all. Maybe that way we would finally have some peace in this world, even if we still don’t have freedom, because the way I see it, we’ve allowed our freedoms to be sold out from under us by our apathy on voting day. I had a “discussion” about that yesterday outside the polling area with someone who lives in the building with me. He hasn’t voted in 20 years, but said he still has the right to complain about what’s going on with the government. I think the opposite applies. If you don’t vote for a change, you have given up your right to complain.

        Sorry Mark, I’m using your space for my soap box. Shutting up now.

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    • Rachel,
      First of all, it was not personal.
      I do sincerely apologize for ranting.
      This is not excuse, but I hear so much these days (and those days when I was in Iraq and Afghanistan), things that heart-sick me.
      We just did not understand each other.
      I am sorry if I tripped off the line.
      Sincerely Sorry.

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    • The thoughts of your grandfather’s are so special, that could be a book written and shared with others. I am always happy when I hear of personal journals that we can hear ‘first hand’ experiences. I could not resist commenting on this, Rachel! Thanks for letting us know! I did not know about the Air Force originally being called, “Army Air Corps,” either!

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      • Thank you. It’s pretty interesting reading about what they did on their off time during a war zone. (Mostly got drunk and played poker.) So many of them were just kids. And unlike now with cellphones and email, they never got to call home and sometimes the mail was held up for a month, so they’d have to wait forever for letters from home then get a bundle at once. And the letters were censored, so often there were sentences literally cut out with a razor blade. I’m glad I wasn’t alive back then. 🙂 YIKES!

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  8. I am glad as it is approaching Memorial Day that this post has a letter about how it felt. I have written a post for Memorial Day and may post it Wed. or Thurs. It includes letters from a few wars. I am amazed at the heroism and bravery of the men and women, all those who served their countries! Around the world… So special and challenging a task! Dangerous and sad, too. Thanks for this, Mark!

    Liked by 1 person

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  9. I meet these men frequently in my line of work. So many of them who’s lives were interrupted to go and take part in something horrific. They returned, Busted their asses to build up their world and take care of their own. Thank you for sharing this. One of their young voices being heard/read.

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  12. Three of my uncles fought in that war Mark. They have all died now, but they all returned home, two of them sound of mind, but one suffering from what we now know as PTSD. They called it Battle Fatigue back then. He didn’t talk about it, couldn’t talk about it. All we ever knew was that he watched 3 platoons killed around him, and was the only survivor of each of them. He drank to find oblivion, and finally drank himself to death, but he was such a wonderful uncle–unless we got him angry. My blonde, curly headed Uncle Leo. I loved that guy.

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      • I’m sure he heard you LA. His kids are living and we are all proud of Leo. I’m proud of all of my 10 uncles, each of them one of a kind, but Leo was the one who suffered the most in that horrible time. He was a machine gunner, loved to play baseball, but when his shoulder would give out on him later in life he would tell my cousin, Doug, that it was an old injury. We all are sure it from the kickback of the machine gun.

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