Tuesday - November 06, 2007
Saluting the Health Service
This summer my battalion did its annual training,
as it often does, at Camp Bullis just north of San Antonio. Most of the units
that train there come from Fort Sam Houston or are associated with that base in
that they are doing medical support training.
This year one of the units was in the
medical field, but they weren't army. Nor were they navy or Air Force. They
were the U.S. Public Health Service Corps and were all officers of some sort
from Captains (O-6) to warrant officer. Most of them looked like they had never
been in a uniform ever before and were very awkward with military
customs.
Most of my Marines, even some
of the senior ones, complained about them for their complete lack of bearing.
Many refused to salute them.
This would
not do. We can't have Marines deciding what ranks they would be respectful to
and which they wouldn't. These Health Service officers may be goofy, they may
be embarrassed by salutes or deferential treatment, but that's their problem,
not ours. I had to explain to my Marines that we would be observing proper
customs and courtesies with these uniformed people, not because of what they
were, but because of what we were.
I talked with some of these Public Health
officers, they were training for civil emergencies and other uses of their
organization. I don't know if they were any good at what they did, but I'm glad
that they took their job seriously enough to spend a few weeks in the summer in
a slightly rough camp. I also hope that their exposure to the Marine Corps
through our little unit left them with an impression that we were a well
disciplined outfit.
It would not do for
these people to return to their civilian lives and have to tell their friends
and family that they met some Marines and saw nothing special about them.
Instead, I hope they were able to go back and tell others that even though they
knew nothing of military customs and courtesies they were still accorded proper
respect by us.
And that's how it's
supposed to work. That is what discipline is about. Doing the right thing even
though there's a good chance that there are no consequences for not doing the
right thing.
This story came to mind
when I was discussing the treatment of prisoners. It's popular for people
supporting one political party to make wild statements that we should of course
allow torture of prisoners, or that waterboarding is not torture and thus should
be allowed. Republican conservatives have abandoned so many principles lately
in an effort to stay in power that they no longer are recognizable as a party of
any principles.
I know that many
people claim that such treatment of prisoners is justifiable, legal, or even
desirable, but the basic equation has not changed. The US should not mistreat
prisoners with waterboarding and other such behavior, not because these
prisoners merit good treatment, but because of what we
are.
My Marines may have grumbed inside
about the quality of the Public Health Service officers that they were saluting,
as did I. But salute them we did because it was the right thing to do. It was
a way of showing what we are about.
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