Dear Mr. Chicken hawk,a.k.a. Jeff Jacoby,
Please contact your nearest military recruiter.
Your nation is at war.
Jeff Jacoby
Dear Mr. Chicken hawk,a.k.a. Jeff Jacoby,
Please contact your nearest military recruiter.
Your nation is at war.
Jeff Jacoby
Ya didn't read the article did ya?
Jeff Jacoby is 46 or 47 (born in 1959), so it's probably too late for him to enlist.
And do you think Jeff Jacoby would win a Medal of Honor?
The list of writers who have excelled at military service is pretty paltry. I'm not sure most writers are cut out for it. Kurt Vonnegut and James Michener both served honorably in World War II. If they received any special awards, however, none of their biographies mention it.
I do playwrighting as a hobby. I was talking with my playwrighting teacher. We both have some military experience. One thing we had in common was that neither of us could march. At all. In general, writers just aren't good at clearing their mind and focusing on the physical task at hand.
This skill of singular focus on a physical task is pretty important in many aspects of the military, and usually not an area where writers excel. Let me use myself as an example. While I'm not in the same league as Michener or Hemmingway, I do think I have the mind of a writer.
I was one of the two worst sailors in my unit at boot camp. I've had success in many areas of life, and I gave it my all at boot camp. And yet, marching and firefighting and perfect towel folding just never came easy to me. (On the other hand, when I came home and gave a presentation on boot camp to sailors who hadn't yet gone, a number of people told me it was the best presentation on the subject they had ever seen.)
While I have gotten a great deal from my military experience, I am not convinced that I would be a great sailor to have around in a combat situation.
I'm not saying writers are better than servicemen and women. Their skills are both needed, but tend to be very different.
Anyway, Jacoby is a very good writer. Why should he spend his time being a mediocre member of the military? Does society benefit by that trade?