Local Opinion: Peace Corps/War Corps?

Several days ago I jumped out of my chair to celebrate the news on CBS TV that Peace Corps Volunteers were, for the first time since COVID-19, being returned to serve in their posts all over the world.

“Hooray!” I screamed, reflecting on being a member of the first Peace Corps contingent to serve in the US Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands years ago. Then I paused and thought, “My God, just several days ago I was reflecting on all the Memorial Day celebrations I’d watched and celebrated my service in the U S Army.”

Yeah, I know it’s very odd that I’ve served in both the PC and the military.

Here’s how that happened. After PC service, I was drafted out of graduate school at the University of Arizona during the height of the Tet Offensive in Vietnam. I was sent to basic training at Fort Bliss, Texas, and advanced infantry training at Fort Carson, Colorado. Here our drill instructor had us running around the parade ground chanting in “Jody call” fashion: “Kill, kill—kill, kill, kill. Gotta’ kill, gonna’ kill— Can’t stop, won’t stop, kill, kill, kill!”

I dropped out of the formation, and the drill instructor approached me and asked, “What’s wrong with you, smart ass?” I replied, “There’s nothing wrong with me but there’s certainly something wrong with the people following your lead.” So the drill instructor sent me to the post psychiatrist for a “consultation.”

Here what occurred in his office was a revelation that changed my thinking on the efficacy of what the American military represented. The post psychiatrist pulled down from his bookcase” The Uniform Code of Military Justice, and said, “Jim, you had the right to drop out of that formation. I’ll write a directive to your DI.”

I still have (and cherish) that directive. In essence, it said that Private Herman was an ex-Peace Corps Volunteer with well-thought moral convictions and morals who’s had life experiences that would warrant his speaking out on issues of war and peace.

After AIT, I was sent to serve with US Army Europe, 7th Army Special Troops headquartered in Heidelberg. The most interesting part of my service was going back and forth across the Berlin Wall through Checkpoint Charlie. This was going from free Western Germany to Communist East Germany. The Soviets were checking out how West Berlin was faring, and we were checking out the status of East Berlin. It was very intimidating watching the East German Communist guards, with assault rifles hanging from their shoulders, “monitoring” our visits with East Germans. East German citizens were frightened to death to speak with us, and the Communist Paradise advertised there was abysmal.

Because I was placed in a set of circumstances as a young man, like few others have experienced, it made me see up close and personal the issues of war and peace.

So then, dear reader, what is the point of my sharing with you my PC and military experiences? It’s because I wish to put before you a thoroughly audacious (some will call it crazy) idea.

Fasten your seat belts, and here we go with my “pie in the sky” proposal. In the future (unless we’re engaged in war), I suggest that young American citizens be subjected to two years of National Service: one year of Peace Corps and one year of military service.

This, I propose, would show young American compatriots that the avoidance of war is dependent on working two sides of a coin. Side One: Working diligently across the globe to avoid issues that usually lead to global conflagrations. Side Two: Using the military when all else fails.

Believe me, I know that maybe a goodly number of you will consider my idea an uphill challenge. But what if ...