We applaud the University’s initiative to set up a scholarship program for up to 10 veterans from the Armed Forces, although it is sadly ironic that Wesleyan is stepping up to provide important services to vets while the current administration is barely able to. The Associated Press recently reported on November 8th that according to the Veterans Affairs Department, veterans currently make up one in four homeless people in the U.S, and no doubt many will remember the disgraceful conditions at Walter Reed hospital reported earlier this year. Considering that the University has witnessed its fair share of wars, it’s about time that we openly acknowledged the sacrifices made by veterans, who all too often are overlooked not only by the government, but by the majority of upper middle class liberals who populate campus, for whom ideas like “patriotism” or “serving one’s nation” aren’t exactly the glitziest.
For all the anti-war rhetoric on campus, especially in light of the divestment campaign soon-to-be covered by the Hartford Advocate, we ask that current and future students view the recipients of these veterans’ scholarships as scholars, not just soldiers. The lack of a national draft doesn’t just suck energy from the anti-war movement, but it also means that Wesleyan students inevitably live in an ivory tower as far as the Iraq war is concerned — when was the last time you really looked at the Middletown Veterans’ Memorial on Washington Terrace?
It’s true that many soldiers are being asked to die for an administration that has made many wrong choices, but we ask that those who express negative opinions about the Iraq war or the military industrial complex remember that soldiers should not be swept into their opposition as well. When these ten veterans show up, hopefully, next September, they aren’t here to increase diversity or share a different angle on the divestment debate: they’re here because more so than your everyday Wesleyan applicant, they understand the meaning of serving higher ideals than naked self-interest, and even self-identified anarchists should respect their willingness to undergo such a service.
Therefore, students should acknowledge that not everyone joins the army because of poverty or desperation (most officers who wind up in Special Forces have received degrees from the most elite institutions in the U.S.), and not everyone who serves in Iraq or Afghanistan is necessarily serving the goals of the Bush administration. In the end, it’s a fact that the U.S. has the best trained and best equipped army in the world, and if that doesn’t translate into military victory in Iraq, or into proper services being provided for veterans once they come back home, that isn’t the fault of the soldiers themselves.
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