“Liberty” we so often take it for granted. I’m not talking about the kind of liberty that the constitution was designed to protect, that’s a whole other story.
I am talking about the permission, granted by the commanding officer, to allow me to go home to my wife and kids after a day of work. This as of now has not been granted today. Being in Okinawa has, for me, one perk. I get good tea. Other than that there are a whole lot of draw backs.
One on my mind right now is that all it takes is for a few deluded service members to go out and do something stupid, and all of Marine Corps Base Japan starts a new “Liberty Campaign Policy.”
What the young guys and girls don’t understand (along with some of us older guys too) is that while in the armed forces, liberty is a privilege, not a right. But like the rest of the country we have a tendency to have an entitlement mentality. But as one fellow Gunny put it so bluntly: “You are entitled to call yourself a Marine, because you earned that title, everything else is a privilege that can be taken away.”
So, here I sit, waiting for the folks who get paid more than me to allow me permission to go home on a Friday evening.
You folks in America don’t take your liberty for granted.
I don’t.
4 comments:
Liberty to have a civilian job of "my choice" rather than having to do some essential real action to keep the wolves from my door, or food in my groups' belly, is indeed a privilege, that I suspect is largely supported by a host of people taking on less privileged to work in a system, whose conceptual structure we could argue the merits of, but whose essential merit seems clear to me....so, thanks for taking that on...and thanks to your family for supporting you in it.
-L
Thanks Lauren, here for a bit longer. Maybe in a year or so, i will enjoy some real liberty.
Jordan, Do you ever think of what type of work you might do once you're done with the military?
Good luck getting that liberty my friend, and thanks for your service.
Hi Aaron, I think it's likely that I will continue to stay in my present field, but with better pay and clothes.
Although my dream job might be one where I don't have to wear shoes, the wife likes to buy things so that may not happen until we have a comfortable nest egg built up.
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