Why did vets join the insurrection?
As an Army veteran and social worker who has counseled veterans for over 50 years, lately people have been asking me: “Why have so many veterans been involved in white supremacy and militant Christian organizations, and in the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol?” The answers lie in several places.
In basic training, a recruit transitions from civilian to warrior, deconstructing the prevailing civilian mandate: Thou shalt not kill. The conditioning is confounding: winning the hearts and minds of the people in order to win a guerrilla, nonconventional war — while learning to dehumanize the enemy. In Vietnam, our basic training involved rampant denigration of the Vietnamese, calling them a host of slurs. It is much harder to kill somebody’s child, sibling, parent or grandparent — than a “gook.”
More recently, counseling Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, I hear a different set of smears. Tragically, their dehumanizing views can become broadened beyond the people in countries where they were deployed, to most anyone of “Asian” or “A-rab” ancestry, and “Moslems.” It’s important to note, however, that others manifest exemplary compassion and behaviors, respecting local peoples and cultures.
There has been Confederate paraphernalia found in ROTC and active duty units, Christian-themed “Crusaders” and “Fighting Knights” unit logos with crosses, and neo-Nazi symbols. A fervent evangelical subculture thrives at the Air Force Academy. Over one-third of service members report personally experiencing racist or white supremacist behavior — perhaps related to many recruits coming from conservative areas where gun culture and the Confederate flag are entrenched.
How many service members enter the military with extremist attitudes — especially when it’s all-volunteer? Practically everywhere that millions of combat troops have deployed, post1950, are to places where the “enemy” is predominantly non-Christian people of color — Korea, Southeast Asia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Africa — likely influencing or reinforcing preexisting prejudices based on race and non-Christian religion. (After all, America’s history includes hundreds of years’ worth of wars against our own non-Christian indigenous people of color, not to mention the current wave of violence against Asian Americans.)
Combat veterans experience a profound trio of responsibilities: being judge, jury and executioner. Some assume these roles with prudence and discretion; others become traumatized, haunted. Still others savor the thrill of the kill, hunter and hunted. Add anger, exacerbated by combat-related threats and losses. And through it all, profound small-unit peer bonding.
Then we arrive home, lacking mission-driven military culture, tight-knit unit relationships, meaningful retraining to deconstruct combat-ingrained attitudes and behaviors. Most do well post-military. Others are saturated with anguish and rage — at the military, losing buddies, family sacrifices, physical, emotional and moral injuries incurred. They are alone, lacking purpose or belonging, easily exploited by charismatic figures and recruited by extremist groups such as the Oath Keepers, Boogaloo Boys, Proud Boys and others.
Often, there is ingrained negativity toward civilians and institutions. There is the feeling: “Our government sends us to war, our military uses us in war, and our country forgets us after war.” Added to being mission-less, a litany of broken promises by our country can fuel resentment, alienation; Democrats viewed as anti-military, anti-veteran, anti-Second Amendment, anti-law enforcement, socialists. Such can beget apoliticism. Or, “drain the swamp” resonates, alternative political organizations beckons, like MAGA. Others find motorcycle clubs, gangs, white supremacists, QAnon appealing — offering a replacement mission, place of belonging, mutual affinity for weapons — and confabulated with issues about liberals, non-Christians, nonwhites, immigrants, border security, the “Kung Flu.”
What to do? First and foremost, it begins with me and you. Willingness to interact with those holding strongly differing convictions, seeking to understand. Committing to nonviolence in thoughts, words and actions, congruent with the Buddhist concept that inner and outer peace are a way of life. Other possibilities:
Meaningful, regular recognition by communities and country, not just a parade on Nov. 11. Why not Veterans Day every month?
We have much to learn from Indian Nations’ Warrior Recognition Ceremonies, and other healing pathways, such as sweat lodge and Talking Circle rituals.
Require veteran-related educational offerings for licensure re-issuance for all helping professions.
Regularly invite veterans to give talks and interact at schools and places of worship. Many veterans suffer agonizing moral pain about what they saw and did in war. And, they have found their spiritual beliefs strengthened, sorely tested — or shattered.
Rethink what we can do personally, such as genuinely thanking veterans for their service (it is truly appreciated), or picking up the tab at a restaurant or store checkout line.
Recognize. Reach out. Remember: The price of freedom is not free. That’s why so many veterans still seek what was our unit motto at the 98th Medical Detachment Psychiatric Team in Nha Trang, Vietnam, displayed on a brightly painted sign — a reclining Snoopy, with the alluring words underneath: Pax mentis, peace of mind.