On this day of Declaring Independence, the cost is sobering. Every warrior, in some fashion, makes a decision to kill an enemy. There is no victory in killing. Necessary to preserve human liberty -yes. Victorious and celebratory – no. Hard on the soul.
50+ years ago, in the Missile Control Center of a Lafayette Class Fleet Ballistic Missile Submarine, I was fully responsible for putting “Birds” on target. Cautious of my Top Secret Clearance, I wondered about, what my targets were. We received regular, encrypted high altitude weather messages so as to refine the launch equation. In lower levels ops, outside my “Office” was a world map on the bulkhead. And I would look at the lat & long coordinates. And I knew that I would be responsible for incinerating some millions of innocent humans.
“Mutually Assured Destruction” may be necessary. But the cost to the soul is incalculable. Even 50+ years on. The Submariners currently on Patrol will, as I have in my dotage, meet that understanding.
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