To serve or not to serve 12 29 16

12/29/16

To Serve or not to serve. 

Recently, a good friend asked my opinion pertaining to military service for her son.  I, being a veteran of two branches of the military, have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly of wearing the uniform of the country.  So, I felt I had some useful knowledge that might be helpful especially for one particular branch of the service.

Of course, the idea of service to the land of our birth is a good and noble one.  Having said that, most folks have seen or heard how the military has been used and abused by those in charge over the last several decades, e.g.; spreading our form of “democracy,” or regime change in those countries that we feel are hostile to the United States.

The blowback to such excursions into other sovereign nations has also become apparent: the rise of anti-American sentiment and actual attacks on those entities that are allied with the U.S., and our citizens, both here and abroad.

Over the last eight years the ineptness of president Obama and his former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has proven disastrous in the form of numerous failed states in the Middle East, resulting in millions of refugees deserting their homelands in search of peace and security.  This, in addition to uncountable deaths through persecution and starvation.  The Christian population of those failed states are now but a fraction of what they used to be.

Most of us have seen our troops involved in continuous wars, resulting in the shedding of blood, and the loss of treasure.  Not to mention the tole of broken military families as well as suicides among returning soldiers and Marines.

But the members of the Air Force and Navy are also susceptible to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). 

For instance, Air Force personnel that operate out of secure facilities, mostly stateside, are partly responsible for monitoring and launching killer drones at targets thousands of miles from their consoles.  These are not video games, but actions that take out the perceived enemies of our country; killing from afar, not up close and personal. 

Still, the taking of lives is an action that few have known or will know.  The consequences of such actions can lead to the questioning of one’s faith, not to mention the effect on the psyche.

Whether just or unjust, war, as we know, should be the last of all options to redress grave wrongs perpetrated against a nation.

We hold our elected officials to the duties of their office to make the right decisions when it comes to the deployment of our military personnel and resources.  With the four branches: Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines, coming under the authority of the Department of Defense.

There is one branch of the service that comes under the Department of Homeland Security: The Coast Guard.

I will write briefly of that unique branch; a branch that I served in during the years from April 1974, to the end of my tour, April 1978.  

I was trained to be a search and rescue (SAR) communications specialist; technical name: Radioman. 

After completing radio school, located in Petaluma, California, I was granted my “wish-list” billet: Boston, Massachusetts. 

And where did I get stationed?  Right smack in the middle of the Italian North End, surrounded by old Italian restaurants and delicatessens!

Three-and-a-half of those years operating out of the Coast Guard Base on Atlantic Avenue, just a stone’s throw from the First District Headquarters housing the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) and the old facility of the Boston Celtics basketball team.  

While on duty in the communications center, I was involved in numerous rescues using my voice and prioritizing skills to help save lives as well as vessels in distress.

The Coast Guard was, and still is, responsible for search and rescue of those mariners in danger while on the high seas.  In addition, the protection of the water borders of the United States falls on the shoulders of the Coast Guard. 

Perhaps one of the most important aspects of law enforcement is the interdiction of illicit drugs and those transporting them via high-speed craft.  There is danger here, but the “coasties” are well-trained and well-armed to meet the challenge. 

Some other interesting duties are pollution control (oil spills and the like), fisheries enforcement to help protect the population of certain types of North Atlantic species, and, if necessary, impounding those ships – usually mother ships of foreign countries that violate our fishing laws and regulations.

As a radioman, my primary duty was to communicate with captains of boats and ships in distress, but I also announced weather alerts to mariners as well as “security” broadcasts to vessels regarding the transport of liquid petroleum tankers entering the inner harbor to unload their highly flammable and explosive cargo.

I have also witnessed first-hand, those foreigners, mostly from behind the Iron Curtain, that sought asylum and freedom from their Communist homelands.   The yearning to be free transcended the gut-wrenching decision to leave behind, in many cases, family members, to face the consequences of their actions, can only be imagined. 

This is but a short list of the duties and responsibilities of those men and women who make up that small, but highly trained and effective branch of the military service: The Coast Guard. 

In comparison to the other services, the Coast Guard has about 40,000 full-time, uniformed members, just about 5,000 more personnel than that of the New York City police department.

The Coast Guard has good technical schools as well as the post-9/11 G.I Bill, allowing honorably discharged personnel to seek higher education in colleges of their choice, while receiving financial assistance for living expenses as well as tuition. 

Would I recommend the Coast Guard to my friend’s son to serve his country?  Yes, with the caveats of God first, country second.

The reality of any military service is that a Catholic will face an amoral atmosphere at the very least, but also an opportunity to set an example of how a practicing Catholic lives his life in the world, but not of the world.

E. DeLalla