Independence Day, Stanford and the military

By Miles Unterreiner July 5, 2012

Yesterday marked the 236th year of this nation’s independence, a day celebrated, in true American style, by loud explosions and cheap beer. But another milestone went by this spring, less widely remarked but of great importance to this campus: it has been a little more than one year since the Faculty Senate voted to allow the return of ROTC, or Reserve Officer Training Corps, to Stanford for the first time since 1970.

One year later, we have made little progress toward recognizing and appreciating the students on this campus–all too few–who have chosen to serve their country by enlisting in the armed forces. We owe them better than that.

Zero. Seven. Zero. Four. The month and day we loudly celebrate this country’s freedom every year. But also, in that order: the number of buildings on this campus dedicated to military veterans or military personnel; the recent number of undergraduate campus veterans, out of a student body of some 6,600; the number of ROTC classes cadets can currently take at Stanford; and the number of tours in Iraq and Afghanistan one particularly eloquent veteran told me about, in harrowing detail.

Instead of recognizing the unique contribution members of the military make to our community, we have long exiled their programs and training from campus and fought a bitter battle to keep them out. Instead of giving them a community and dedicated space, we have picketed their 7 a.m. morning workouts with denunciations of imperialism.

There are very good reasons to oppose military action abroad. This is not the time for me to list them. But soldiers volunteer to protect and defend their country; they don’t get to decide when or where.

I don’t know everything about the growing disconnect between citizen and soldier. But in my spring quarter class on global justice two years ago, it was a military veteran who spoke most perceptively and most thoughtfully about the ethics of war and humanitarian intervention. And I do know that in my history class on the background of current global problems, it was an ROTC cadet who delivered a presentation on crucial military aspects of the U.S.-China diplomatic relationship that the rest of us knew nothing about.

I do know that this year, Sergeant Chris Clark wrote one of the best op-eds I have ever read, about his experience on a dirt road somewhere in Iraq. I do know that our Stanford military personnel are people I would be proud to see leading my country, in war or in peace. I do know that I cannot truly know the sacrifice it takes to leave one’s family and board a plane, never knowing if you’ll see them again.

So let’s argue about the ethics of humanitarian intervention. Let’s oppose American global imperialism. Let’s take as many steps as possible toward the world peace we all seek.

But let’s also remember, recognize and appreciate the men and women on this campus who continue to ensure that we can celebrate the Fourth of July–and the liberties and freedoms it represents to us all–next year, and the year after that, and after that. We owe our fellow students no less.

  • http://tedriii.blogspot.com/ Ted Rudow III

    To equate the Fourth of July with Christianity is absurd! I do not like the spreading of American-style democracy at the hands of the bloodthirsty and warlike Americans themselves. This does not lead to more Christianity, but to a nation drifting further.

    Has America brought more Christianity and Christian values to Iraq or Afghanistan, or other nations it has attacked in one way or another in recent years? No, the opposite is true. America cannot impose righteousness on others. That is a personal affair, not something that can be imposed in a national crusade.

    Materialism, “the devotion to material wealth and possessions at the expense of spiritual or intellectual values,” is virtually synonymous with capitalism, the profit-driven system that dominates the economies and nations of today.

    Ted Rudow III

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Politically-Incorrect/100001896293128 Politically Incorrect

    One of the reasons I find Steve Jobs such a fascinating character is because I disagree with him vehemently on many political issues but on others we are in such agreement that I find myself scratching my head while asking how is that this guy was such a staunch Democrat and I am such a staunch Republican.  5 years ago, he and Bill Gates gave a rare joint interview at the d5 conference. Many of the things that were said there made it to the news but ironically one of the things he said was incredibly missing from major coverage. He said something along the lines that Silicon Valley had also been extraordinarily lucky in that it had benefit from political stability. To me, although he didn’t say that in those terms, that’s code word for saying, thanks God we have such a powerful presence, ie military, that nobody dares challenge us anymore.

    Steve Blank makes the even wilder claim in its “The Secret History of Silicon Valley” series of talks, http://www.computerhistory.org/core/secretvalley/, that Silicon Valley wouldn’t exist today without the early work of the military promoting research right after WWII: “Terman, Stanford, and our intelligence agencies spawned the
    entrepreneurial culture of Silicon Valley. The military primed the pump
    as an investor and customer for key technologies (semiconductors used in
    missile guidance systems, computers at NSA and Livermore, and of
    course, DARPA’s interest in packet switching and the Internet.) But
    venture capital turned the Valley toward volume corporate and consumer
    applications.”

    I believe that the military plays a very prominent role in securing the US and the Valley’s future. Stanford has probably benefited historically more from the military than other schools. It hasn’t always been grateful for that but it’s never too late for Stanford to do more justice to the US military.

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