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February 15, 2005
Duty...
There's been a lot of news coverage about the guy with eleven kids who's being shipped off to Iraq.
Kim and I have watched all this with a mixture of awe and utter terror. The thought of either one of us being far away is especially horrendous right now with the recent addition to our family. But of course, this guys wife is now expecting their 12th child (I wonder if those two know what causes that...).
This guy has said that he felt that he needed to do something after September 11th. He needed to do his duty and support our country. It was something he felt like he had to do.
Kim told me yesterday that she felt like our generation was brought up to feel that patriotism is corny, and I think she's right. That's a shame, really, because we do have a pretty good deal here for all that there are massive problems. I don't think our system is perfect by any stretch, but I haven't come up with anything better yet.
Still, I'm left wondering about duty. For this guy, what duty should be. You see, if I went back to work and gave two weeks notice so that I could move to California and get a record deal with my Polka band, that would be totally irresponsible of me. I have a wife and a family to support. Even if Polka was something I felt like I had to do, my duty is to my family. To run off like that would be purely selfish.
Duty is a funny thing. It calls for you to do the thing that needs doing even if you don't want to do it. For me, a guy with 11 kids and one on the way? His duty is to NOT go to a combat zone and get killed.
I wish him luck. If I heard correcly, he'll be with a group of SeaBees (construction engineers from the Navy), so hopefully he'll be safe enough. I'd hate to be the officer who would go to his house and tell his family that he wouldn't be coming home, should something happen to him. But if I were, I guess I'd just be doing my duty.
Posted by john at February 15, 2005 12:08 AM