📧 “pitch re. VP military service” to Sojo (ignored)
I have a timely piece for consideration, coming in under 550 words so I can expand as needed. I did not see an expectation of exclusivity, so you are one of a few outlets I am taking this to. Please let me know if there is interest, thank you!
TITLE TBD
Subtitle/Thesis: Vance is wrong exploit Survivors Guilt for political points
On Wednesday, Republican Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance said of his Democratic counterpart, “You abandoned your unit right before they went to Iraq.” Both men were enlisted soldiers, Vance of a four year contract in the Marines, and Walz of 24 years in the National Guard. Vance should know better than to exploit Survivors Guilt for political points. Even if he doesn’t, every decent person should.
The deepest cut is always betrayal, when someone lets you down the moment you’re counting on them the most. To accuse a soldier of abandoning their battle buddies is to accuse them of betrayal. Not only was Vance’s allegation factually wrong, it was morally wrong as well. His bitter attempt at belittling a fellow veteran didn’t happen in a vacuum; it happened in the midst of a decades-long epidemic of military suicide. By airing out his own insecurity about being “lucky to escape any real fighting,” he threatens to amplify the voices of self-doubt in the hearts and minds of veterans less fortunate than him.
When the Twin Towers fell almost 23 years ago, I was in the dentist’s chair getting two teeth pulled. Within 24 hours, Fort Liberty (nee Bragg) was locked down on all sides, but days turned to weeks and weeks turned into months. It would seem my unit would not deploy, so I reenlisted to fulfill my dream of living in Hawaii. I left North Carolina in December 2002, and by the New Year, my friends had leaked to me that they were headed to Kuwait for the invasion of Iraq. I felt like I had abandoned my unit without anyone having to say it out loud. Sometimes the deepest cut is self inflicted; Who knew how many of my friends might die while I was living it up on O’ahu? It wasn’t until after my own combat deployment that I learned self-infliction is worse than when someone else lands a blow.
For 12 months prior to Vance’s deployment, I crisscrossed the country with Bravo Co. 1-14th Infantry Regiment, during which I read the Bible and the 9/11 Commission Report. When I came home I applied to be a noncombatant conscientious objector. That was when one of my artillery officers accused me of leaving my subordinates to die on the battlefield. The comment didn’t sting because I had actually asked to remain with my unit. I could tell it was just an insecure emotional outburst. But that didn’t change how it felt when, despite my best efforts, that unit deployed without me. Another officer, the only one who didn’t try to threaten or degrade me, was one of 11 killed in a helicopter crash during that deployment. I don’t feel like I abandoned him, but knowing the truth doesn’t always erase the pain.
As an advocate for soldiers and veterans, I talk to a lot of my peers who aren’t as lucky as me. Well over half of them struggle with Survivors Guilt, exacerbated by a social hierarchy in the military in which those closest to “real fighting” catch both barrels of guilt, of both killing and surviving. The political points Vance hopes to score by exploiting Survivors Guilt are not worth the damage he inflicts on fellow veterans by broadcasting his self-doubt on the national stage.
