Blessed are the whistleblowers
My grandfather fought in France and Belgium during the First World War. He was 23, and in the artillery, which fact rendered his experiences long-distance and comparatively impersonal. He did what he was told to do, came safely home, and then never talked much about his war.
My father was a veteran of the Second World War, and also only 23 when he took part in an amphibious landing on Borneo, the horrifying details of which my brother learned only a month or two before Dad's death at the age of 89. Having somehow got safely off the beach, Dad became forward scout in the jungle, and would later occasionally recall a few hair-raising moments, sufficient to make siblings and self realise we had had a very good chance of never experiencing the vicissitudes of this vale of tears.
I don't recall these stories in detail, but I do recall my mother telling me what Dad had said to her. If you knew what I had to do under orders, you would leave me. She didn't want to leave him; she never asked.
My second son has been in the Greek Army for nearly 20 years; he was 19 when he joined up. Duty in the Bosnia of 1997, when he, too, was 23, was bad enough, but he has not seen active service. Thank God.
I initially tried to talk him out of the army idea.
'What will you do if you receive orders that go against your conscience?'
'I'll worry about that when the time comes.'
The reply of a very young man, one who had yet to learn that the whole of life is a learning curve, and that many a googly will be bowled at us before we are done.
'It'll be too late then.'
I had to accept, though, that there was nothing I could do.
*****
I remain interested in matters military, and was bemused by the fact that Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for releasing evidence of US army atrocities into the public domain. The people who committed these crimes have received sentences that are almost ludicrous in their lightness. Manning has said he did not want to harm or betray his country, but followed his conscience in making shocking acts known to the world. His orders, however, involved secrecy, and President Obama, a lawyer himself, has stated that Manning broke the law.
There is a case, however, for breaking laws