I am a cadet in the Army ROTC program, and today as I was walking in uniform back to my residence hall, another University student asked me “So, you want to go kill babies do you?” in a very mocking and disrespectful tone. Not really knowing what else to say to him and certainly not wanting to engage in a conflict with this person, I simply walked on. This really disturbed and offended me because I feel that it reflects a sentiment felt by some students on campus. I want to take this opportunity to say that not only was this individual being extremely rude to me, but he was showing his complete lack of knowledge on the subject of war and the military.
Yes, I concede that in the past soldiers in the Army — and the armies of all nations — have committed war crimes and killed civilians. However, such an action is not something that the Army praises or intends to do. In ROTC we learned about the laws of war, and it was stressed to us during training that the murder of civilians is condemned in the Army and it will probably result in criminal process for the offender. It really angers me that people are so uninformed and intolerant of things they don’t understand. The Army strives to protect the United States, not kill innocent people. Just because in the past, wrongs have been committed by an organization, doesn’t make the entire organization bad. By that logic, we should condemn churches, schools and practically every other organization because in each of those organizations great evils have been committed.
In war, things which shouldn’t happen end up happening, but to say that soldiers murder babies and civilians out of bloodlust is an incredible overstatement and is really hurtful to the image of the armed forces and the brave men and women serving our country. After all, soldiers are human beings too and are just as horrified by violent crimes.
To the gentleman who made this remark to me I have to say: You should be grateful to the military for voluntarily protecting the country you live in, and if you disagree with the war and other political issues, remember that the military doesn’t decide to go to war. That is the job of politicians, not soldiers. Stop blaming the military and cadets such as myself for the wrongs in this world. Get to know us ROTC people. I think you will find that we are not the baby killers you imagine.