The following are my closing comments at the VETLANTA 3Q 2024 Summit held at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta Wednesday, August 8, 2024.
I HAVE A NEPHEW, THE ONLY SON OF MY WIFE’S KID SISTER, WHO IS COMPLETING HIS FIRST PLATOON LEADER’S CLASS BOOTCAMP AT QUANTICO, VA.
GOOD KID, ATTENDS THE MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY AND PLAYS FOOTBALL, A STRIKER/MONSTER ON DEFENSE. HE HAS TWO YOUNGER SISTERS AND NEITHER OF HIS PARENTS SERVED.
YES, HE WAS RECRUITED… BUT THEY DIDN’T HAVE TO TRY VERY HARD. IT ALL STARTED AT THE KITCHEN TABLE. AND A WOMAN MARINE WHO IS SHEPHERDING HIS CANDIDACY AS A MARINE OFFICER TOLD HIM OVER THE WINTER THAT “YOU MAY GET MAIL AND IT WILL BE UPLIFTING.”
I WROTE THE KID, HIS NAME IS EDDIE, A FEW WEEKS BACK AND HE ANSWERED IT IMMEDIATELY. IT WAS BRIEF, BUT HE BEGAN THE NOTE BY RECOUNTING WHAT THE RECRUITER TOLD HIM -- MAIL CAN BE VERY UPLIFTING. EDDIE WROTE TO ME THAT HE ROLLED HIS EYES WHEN SHE TOLD HIM THAT.
BUT, HE WROTE, HE NOW SEES THAT MAIL TRULY IS UPLIFTING. EDDIE GETS IT NOW.
HOW MANY OF YOU KNOW SOMEONE IN BOOTCAMP OR INDOC OR WHATEVER THE HECK THEY’RE CALLING IT?
DO YOU WRITE HIM OR HER? IT ISN’T HEROIC, BUT YOU REMEMBER GETTING MAIL DURING THOSE CRAZY TIMES, RIGHT? OR NOT GETTING ANY?
IN AN AGE OF TEXTING AND EMAIL AND CELL PHONES AND THE CESSPOOL WE CALL SOCIAL MEDIA, HAVE WE LOST THE ART OF THE HANDWRITTEN NOTE?
I’M AGING MYSELF, BUT LETTER WRITING HAS TWO PERMANENT LAYERS. THE WRITER EXPRESSES A SENTIMENT OR SOME GREAT THOUGHT, STAMPS IT AND MAILS IT. THE LETTER WRITER FORGETS ALMOST IMMEDIATELY WHAT HE OR SHE WROTE.
THE RECEIVER GETS IT A FEW DAYS LATER… AND WILL READ AND RE-READ AND RE-RE-READ IT OFTEN. BECAUSE YOU TOOK THE INITIATIVE. AND IT IS THEIRS, FOREVER.
NOW THE HOOK IS ALREADY SET IN EDDIE. HE WAS REALLY RECRUITED AT THE KITCHEN TABLE BECAUSE HIS PARENTS RAISED HIM RIGHT. GOD, FAMILY, COUNTRY, CORPS.
THOSE AROUND HIM SET A GOOD EXAMPLE, TOO. THOSE WHO LOVE EDDIE GAVE HIM THE TOOLS TO HAMMER OUT HIS VALUES AND HIS OBLIGATIONS TO THOSE VALUES.
DID YOU KNOW THAT DURING WW TWO, ONE IN NINE ADULTS SERVED IN SOME KIND OF UNIFORM. A TIME WHEN DEMOCRACY TRULY WAS AT RISK.
DURING VIETNAM, AN EXHAUSTING TIME FOR ALL, IT WAS ONE IN TWENTY.
TODAY? THE POST 9/11 MILITARY? IT IS OVER ONE IN 200… AND THE SERVICES STILL CAN’T MEET THEIR RECRUITMENT GOALS.
FOR 2023, ACROSS ALL THE SERVICES (EXCEPT THE MARINES) THE SHORTFALL WAS 41,000.
THE GENERATIONAL NATURE OF SERVICE ARCS DOWNWARD, TOO. SMALLER FAMILIES, SURE, BUT 30 YEARS AGO 50% OF RECRUITS HAD FAMILY MEMBERS WHO ONCE WORE THE UNIFORM. TODAY IT’S 12%.
EVEN LOOSENING SOME STANDARDS, WISELY AND BY NECESSITY, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT ONLY 23% OF AMERICANS AGED 17-24 ARE ELIGIBLE TO SERVE. LESS THAN ONE IN FOUR.
WHY DON’T PEOPLE ENTER THE SERVICE? IT ISN’T ABOUT THE MONEY. WE THROW MONEY AT MILITARY BENNIES.
WHY? THE TOP TWO REASONS ARE ABOUT FEAR. FEAR OF PHYSICAL HARM AND FEAR OF PTSD.
NOW EDDIE WAS BORN AFTER 9/11. HE’S JUST A KID, A KID WHO DID NOT KNOW THE PANIC AND ANGER WE ALL FELT ON THAT BRIGHT CLOUDLESS SEPTEMBER DAY OVER 23 YEARS AGO.
THE RECRUITMENT CRISIS… IT IS PART OF OUR CULTURE NOW.
WE, THE UNITED STATES, WE COLLECTIVELY FAIL TO MEET OUR PLANNED COMMITMENTS WHETHER FISCAL, MILITARY, OR MORAL… AND WE SHRUG, BECAUSE SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO FILL THE BREACH, IN THE FUTURE.
SO…THE FEW SERVE SO THE MANY CAN DO WHATEVER THEY CAN TO TEAR IT ALL DOWN, IN THE NAME OF IGNORANCE AND FALSE VICTIMHOOD.
SO WE ASK OURSELVES, WHAT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ASSIST IN RECRUITING? DO WE ENCOURAGE IT? DO WE SET THE GOOD EXAMPLE?
OR DO WE DWELL ON THE POTENTIAL FOR PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HORRORS? IN OUR SINCERE EFFORT TO HELP VETERANS IN NEED, ARE WE ACTUALLY MAKING MILITARY SERVICE UNATTRACTIVE?
TO THOSE OF US WHO KNOW SOMEONE OF THE RIGHT AGE, DO WE ENCOURAGE THE PROCESS WITH POSITIVE SUPPORT? OR NOT?
DO WE STILL TALK ABOUT THE VALUES OF GOD, FAMILY, COUNTRY AND CORPS AT THE KITCHEN TABLE?
DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO GET A LETTER FROM YOU?
HAVE YOU REACHED OUT TO YOUR EDDIE?
THANK YOU THANK YOU
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