Moral dilemmas common in the military
EDITOR’S NOTE: Columnist John Ostwald will submit daily columns for the two weeks prior to Veterans Day. The columns cover a variety of armed forces issues. The information in the columns comes from interviews with veterans and family members, research and John’s perspective as an educator and veteran. According to the Iliad, Hector of Troy was the best warrior the Trojans and all their allies could field, and his fighting prowess was admired by Greeks and his own people alike. In the film, “Troy” Hector had to choose between staying with his wife and child and leaving for war with his family of soldiers. In the current film, “American Sniper” Chris Kyle, the main character, was faced with a similar decision involving his wife and children.
It is not unusual that odd and often complex situations that some researchers call, “moral dilemmas” challenge service men and women during their tours of duty.
During World War II, it was reported in the media that, “British bomber pilots killed civilians in Germany to boost morale after London blitz (The Blitz refers to bombing by the Luftwaffe (German Air Force) over Britain in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War.” Did all of those airmen feel that this was justified or did it leave lingering painful questions?
Sometime later in the war, the crew of the Enola Gay dropped the first atomic bomb, on Hiroshima. Three days later, on Aug. 9, 1945, the crew of the B-29 bomber nicknamed Bockscar dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. Japan surrendered six days later, ending World War II. Fred Olivi, who copiloted the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, told the Chicago SunTimes in a 1995 interview.
“While thousands died, I feel sure the bomb had to be dropped because, if the Americans had been forced to invade Japan, it would have been a bloodbath.” Did Fred Oliva believe what he said or was it just a statement that would help minimize dissonance. After I read this information, I couldn’t help but wonder if we will ever interview military personnel involved in the launching of nuclear missiles on civilian populations.
A serviceman I interviewed who was in Iraq mentioned that his platoon used to give the local kids candy. At one point the enemy started to have kids throw grenades at the American military personnel. It was reported that the enemy said they would kill their parents of the kids if they didn’t comply. The serviceman I interviewed said that some of the kids, who threatened harm, were killed.
An officer in charge of much of the equipment used in Iraq said, “A lot of money was spent on stuff that didn’t work and lives were lost. I wish knew what exactly was going on.”
Recently, a review of the one woman play “Grounded” said that “Anne Hathaway gives a heightened performance as a drone pilot in a chilling play about the effects of killing by remote control. The plays creator, George Brant said that he “is more concerned with the psychological side-effects of remote warfare on this one woman than with a larger discussion of how it alters the military landscape or the world’s vision of the US.”
Dr. Edward Tick, author of “War and the Soul” indicates that moral issues happen, “whenever a military person feels their ideals and values for which they are serving are being betrayed. And there’s a terrible (reported) betrayal, even before they come home: ‘You ask me to kill people for this?’ or ‘The rules of engagement force me to kill civilians, and I don’t want to, and I believe it’s wrong.” Dr. Tick also reported that over the years he has been behind closed doors with generals and command colonels “who are in anguish, saying, ‘We don’t believe in these wars either, we know they’re wrong. We hate how our troops are being used. But those officers admit they are following orders and cannot stop the situation, telling him, we need you civilians to be involved and to care and to tell our government when to use us and when not to.” This type of communication suggests that we may all be part of a moral dilemma when we send men and women to war for reasons that are too frequently unclear.