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Veterans Day: A teachable moment
On Friday, at National Review Online, William J. Bennett had a terrific column about the teachable moment that is Veterans Day. After noting the tragic condition of students’ knowledge of American history, he proposes that the holiday could be used to help kids learn about the heroes who have fought for their freedom. Not only the white-wigged Washingtons who seem so distant, but men like recent Medal of Honor recipient Lt. Michael Murphy, who sacrificed himself for his unit in Afghanistan.
A time of war is a terrible thing, but it brings opportunities for teachable moments, and it is about the best time there can be to make our heroes and their cause teachable and estimable again. If we rededicate ourselves to studying our history and our people rightly, if we take the time to look at the entirety of our firmament, we will see what our Founders saw we could be, what foreigners who came here saw all along, and what we ourselves can – even today – see once again: that we have something precious here. That something is called America, where young men and women sign up to protect her each and every day in the uniform of our armed services.
HT: Joel Mark
back to top12 Comments to “Veterans Day: A teachable moment”
I always thought I was quite a history dunce. And I suppose in comparison to some, I am. But I have to say, I’m shocked at the history ignorance of the current generation. And I really get the idea that anything to do with the military history of our country is something most people just want to ignore–it is unpleasant. I think even teachers want to ignore it for the most part.
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No more trackbacks. Oh well.
I linked to Bennett’s piece at the beginning of a piece of my own: Veterans I Know
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I beg to differ with Bennet on one point. But perhaps it is because of where I live. Living at the doorstep of Camp Pendleton, there is hardly a student here who does not know who Chesty Puller was or the significance of Inchon or Guadacanal.
On the week of Veterans Day every high school in North San Diego County has vets in as guest speakers, A sargent who was first in on guadacanal to set up radio markers and then survived Chosin, a Vietnam vet who was one of two of the longest held enlisted POWs in American history, a survivor of the Bataan Death March. And this has gone on for years.
Veterans Day is definitely a teachable moment; I just think Bennet should be careful. The idea is not a new one.
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At best, heros are a necessary evil. One of the things Bennett should teach is that it’s better not to have heros. “To obey is better than sacrifice.” Another thing Bennett should teach is that one of the costs of heros is villains. Wars produce both, together with a foggy confusion about which are which. One example from the Iraq war is the self-proclaimed warlord, Lt. Ilario Pantano, whose disdain for the Rules of Engagement got him indicted for premeditated murder. This warlordism set the terrible course of the war prior to the implementation by Gen. Petraeus of different principles of counter-insurgency. Bad wars make bad heros — on of the reasons that unjust wars are evil.
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I actually read Ilario Pantano’s book. I can’t agree with the way you characterized him Scroop.
But I wouldnt put him forward as the epigrammatic hero archetype for our recent wars.
Among those I do wish Americans had more familiarity with:
SFC Paul Ray Smith. Smitty’s actions in the 2003 conventional part of the Iraq war saved a US battalion command post.
Petty Officer Neil Roberts. (Afghanistan’s Roberts Ridge is named in his honor) He was injured when a chinook helicopter got hit badly. It spun or jerked suddenly and he fell out. A remote video showed Taliban fighters approaching his body. If he wasnt dead when they found him he was soon executed.
Sgt Rafael Peralta: this marine through himself on a grenade to save his platoon.
And of course, Navy SEAL Lt Murphy. Murphy and his SEAL team were spotted by Afghan sheep herders. Had Murphy and his men killed these Afghans right then and there, he and his men would not’ve had their location passed on to the local Taliban. Murph chose not to be a murderer and he and his men paid with the last full measure.
I dont know when we stopped naming buildings or streets for those who perished fighting in this nation’s wars. O’hare airport was named for a WWII ace pilot in the South Pacific.
Plano Texas I believe named a street after Casey Joyce. Joyce was one of the Rangers who died in the Clinton era Somalia missions depicted in Blackhawk Down. Joyce’s father Larry lobbied Congress to investigate how his son died. Mr Joyce is buried next to his son in Arlington national cemetery.
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I’m afraid the present young generation thinks freedom is free. It would be deadly politics to bring back the draft. However:
In 1941 we had a population of about 150m. We put over 12m in uniform.
Today we have over 300m. I don’t know how many we have, but we can’t keep enough men on the front.
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I’d eliminate Veterans Day and go back to celebrating Armistice Day.
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I’m not sure what difference the name makes nor if its a holiday in America, but in Canada its called Remembrance Day and, although a government and bank holiday, schools are open if it falls on a weekday. When I was young, schools were closed and students were expected to show up at the town memorial to honour the dead and living. As the years progressed, this no longer happened and now Remembrance Day is comemerated in the school. In the past decade, Remembrance Day has seen a new earnestness in the way war and peace are remembered and a new found appreciation for the military on both the left and right. And this is slowly being reflective in the increased knowledge shown by students in history surveys.
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I taught high school English for about a decade.
Although I wasn’t a history teacher, it was striking to me that a large percentage of teenagers of the time hated history with a passion. They considered it of absolutely no use or relevance to them.
Those who forget…?
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I didn’t hate history as a student, but I didn’t enjoy it either until I was an adult. My sister felt the same way. I’m not suggesting we quit teaching history in school, but it does seem to take a certain amount of the maturity and perspective on life that come with growing up to be able to appreciate the lessons of history.
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I think history would be more meaningful for teenagers if they got to act it out instead of reading about it.
Of course, it could easily get out of hand.
Some lucky teenagers get to live history.
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Apparently not everbody is allowed to teach
http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/11/12/18_arrested_in_antiwar_protest_by_veterans/
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