I like tools. I like really well made tools. Because of space limitations I
don't own all I'd like, but the ones I do own are well made and function as
designed. I have a Milwaukee heavy duty drill that makes holes in just about
anything I can reach, and to drill holes beyond my reach I have an AR-15.
Good tools demand well trained operators. When I was a kid, boys of 18
registered for the draft and if they didn't enlist were soon called up.
Induction meant a minimum of two years service and usually in the army. Bootcamp
was a place to learn all sorts of useful things not the least of which was the
proper use and care of the M1 Garand, a great tool if there ever was one. The
army had a lot of neat stuff for a kid to learn to use . Mixed in with the tough
training was a beginning awareness of how a young citizen/soldier was to act to
gain the trust and respect of his peers. A sense of purpose,of
camaraderie, of need to follow orders for the common good of the unit - and most
importantly, a young soldier learned to believe in himself and his new
abilities. After his two year hitch, the boy went home a man and a better member
of society. He was proud of his service to his country and felt good about
himself. How important that is! Simply feeling good about one's self.
The draft is history. Teaching the use and respect of firearms has
unfortunately, for the most part, been left to the demagogues. We have a
surrogate based military filled with good young men and women who are looking
for careers. Make no mistake, these are good soldiers as are the national guard
and reserve unit people, but no longer do we produce the huge mass of young
citizen/soldiers. No longer do we have a cross section of American
citizen/militia, of trained men and women ready to drop their hammers and saws,
their stethoscopes and blackboard erasers and even their cameras and note pads
to take up arms in defense of liberty. No longer do we have millions of men and
women from all walks of life who have the common bond of having served their
country under arms. No longer do we have laced into our society the strength of
numbers to laugh at and ignore with impunity the outrageous utterances of fools
and the whining negativity of the media.
Our young men are no longer trained as warriors with no fear of weapons and
with the resolve to be good Americans and protectors of the constitution;
instead they are left to wander aimlessly in a country that seems to care so
little for them that it refuses to give them the challenges that all young men
need. They are like masterless samurai wannabes who quail at the thought of
discipline - rudderless noncombatants in a war they don't have the strength of
mind to recognize. They clog our court systems and prisons and are forever
ruined by the experience.
I think it our duty, not only those of us who've been in the military, but
any of us who have something to offer, to teach our young, to give them the
tools and training, to make them feel good about themselves. We can do it by
inviting a young fellow to go shooting, by getting together with a bunch of old
timers and letting the kids listen to the voices of those who were really there.
A hand up, a pat on the back, these can make a big difference in a young
person's outlook.
We lovers of freedom have been demonized for our choice of tools. We've been
made fun of and chastised by the very people that we and our comrades have
fought and died to protect. And still we persevere, and still we go on.
Let us instill in our young the same pride, humility and love of country.
Boys still yearn to be men. Men should first be warriors.
