A new era of service

At an early point in my military career, I remember attending a Veterans Day event at which I had the good fortune to converse with a World War II veteran, a man who had survived the D-Day invasion at Normandy. This man thanked me for my service, a sentiment that left me conflicted. Sure, I had been to combat, but my experience flying over Iraq and Afghanistan paled when compared to his harrowing tales.  After all, my sorties were flown during an unprecedented period of American airpower in which dominance of the skies was all but assured, while this WW II veteran had to face his own mortality on a daily basis. Yet this individual, perhaps sensing my trepidation, reassured me that service in today’s military was equally challenging, for entirely different reasons. 

Today’s military members, as he put it, were in our current war for the long haul. Unlike previous conflicts, which saw intense periods of violence that resolved relatively quickly, our current “War on Terror” has been continuing unabated since Sept. 11, 2001, representing more than 14 of my nearly 17 years of service. By contrast, American involvement in World War II lasted only four years and even our military involvement in Vietnam subsided in a shorter period than our present conflict.

Adding to the complexity of service, not since Pearl Harbor have servicemen and women been more under attack at home. Just this summer, a radicalized Muslim American attacked and killed four Marines and a sailor in Chattanooga, Tennessee. These were servicemen who were supposed to be in the “safer” part of their career military rotations. Threats overseas prompted the U.S. European Command to issue an order prohibiting troops from wearing uniforms off base, and there were some initial calls, in the wake of the Chattanooga incident, to carry such a policy over to the states. Yet around my piece of our small state, I still see military members proudly donning their uniforms publicly as they go about their daily routines. Is this courage? Perhaps or perhaps not. I tend to think it is more an act of American pride, patriotism and defiance. For my part, I absolutely despise the concept of being ruled by fear, especially in my own backyard.

Social values and norms have changed dramatically since the “greatest generation” stormed the beaches of Normandy, freeing Europe from the grip of tyranny and putting an end to the Holocaust. As Americans, we have become increasingly risk averse, dramatically reducing the pool of individuals who will run toward the proverbial fire, rather than away from it. Yet there are still those who are willing to stand up in the face of personal danger.      There’s no better illustration of this fact than the brave display of off-duty servicemen who subdued a would-be gunman on a French train earlier this year. These modern warriors understand that there is no such thing as a front line, or the safety of being behind it, in our modern conflicts.    

Most American Jews understand that such a reality has existed in Israel for decades, yet as a community, we often seem more connected to that conflict than our own domestic security issues. In my previous writings, I have often attributed this to a continued disconnect between our Jewish community and our men and women in uniform.  While I have yet to identify a root cause of this disconnect, my suspicion is a matter of demographics. While the IDF is almost entirely composed of Jews, the American military has a tiny Jewish demographic.  Still, I assert that support for our American veterans, both Jew and gentile, is a responsibility of our Jewish community.  

So as we approach this Veterans Day, I ask you to think about our new era of national security.  While it’s easy to heap praise upon those “on the front lines,” whether they be Americans or Israelis, we should remember that our current war is close to home. Men and women who put on the uniform every day do something unique in this generation: they stand up for what they believe in even when that belief may bring them harm.  As American Jews, all of us immigrants, they are standing up for us.

PETE ZUBOF is a native of Richmond, Virginia. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland and has a master’s degree from the University of Rhode Island. He is a pilot in the United States Navy and currently on the staff of the Naval War College. Pete is also the Jewish lay-leader for Naval Station Newport. Pete blogs regularly for 401j. He resides in Jamestown with his wife, Morgan, their son, Logan and dog Cider.