If You Join the Army, Don't Cry C.O. To Me

By now, you're probably aware that several armed forces personnel would much rather stay home than go to the Persian Gulf because of the risk of war. In particular, they are claiming to be conscientious objectors.

One of the objectors is a northern Michigan man, 25-year-old Sgt. Michael Morse of Grayling. Morse is currently facing court-martial charges because of his stance, which is that war and killing are immoral.

Well, not that I personally disagree with the stance, but his claim has me scratching my head. Buddy, if you think war is so wrong, why the hell did you join the Army, anyway?

Oh, that's right. The cash. The job training. The perks.

Morse, it seems, joined the Army out of high school because he wasn't sure about college and had no immediate plans to hit Wall Street, I guess.

So, like thousands of other recent high school graduates who watch television and believe that wearing battle fatigues can make you the best you can be, he enlisted.

When he got out, he found that no jobs beckoned his talents. So he re-enlisted.

Morse was due to be discharged this month, but instead was told he was heading to the sandy side of the world.

And now he cries C.O.

The Army must be having a field day with this one. Morse has the nerve to cry, "I won't go" during his second stint with the Mean Green Machine. They're probably asking the same question I posed seven paragraphs back - "If you believe war is wrong, why are you here?"

Before I continue, let me say this: I am a conscientious objector. I've attended lectures and forums, collected a stack of information from anti-war groups about two feet high, and have albums by Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger, to name a few, in my record collection.

So, much like Morse, I am anti-war and I think the Middle East situation is a terrible waste of time, money, energy ... and lives.

The difference is, I didn't enlist.

Now, I could sympathize with Morse and his family ... if he had been drafted. That would make this case a whole new ballgame.

But he wasn't drafted. No one put a gun to his head and said, "We want YOU!" Rather, he went on his own. Signed the contract. Took the money. The job training. The whole package.

Morse wants to change the rules in the middle of the game. He's trying to back out of a contract he knowingly put his John Hancock on.

Morse claims one of the reasons he enlisted was that war didn't appear on the horizon at the time. If he had known, he would not have re-joined. He doesn't believe in killing.

Well, phooey on you, Sarge. Anyone with a brain could tell you that war is not usually an event planned in advance for years to come. The Persian Gulf situation, as volatile as it is, surprised most of the world - even with the region being in constant turmoil.

The threat of was is a minute-by-minute thing in the Middle East. And we, being the world's overbearing watchdog, will be dragged in at some point.

As for the claim about killing? Well, there aren't many people who thrive on the matter. Not many kids grow up saying, "I want to be a killer." I get weak thinking about injuring a squirrel with my truck, not to mention the thought of killing another human being.

But death is a part of war, as is the Army. Young men go to war. Some come home. Some come back injured. And some never make it back.

This isn't high school.

Morse is setting a bad precedent for us true C.O.'s. And he isn't exactly doing the Army a favor, either.

This article originally appeared in the Ogemaw County Herald.