In the early morning hours of March 18, vandals broke into the University's Army, Air Force, and Navy ROTC buildings. Anti-war messages were painted on buildings and rugs, and pictures of the President and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld were taken. Last week'svandalism was an apprehensible, disgusting act of nothing more than petty crime.
The most disturbing aspect of this unwarranted attack is the recipients. The perpetrators of the crime were obviously trying to send an anti-war message, but they were undeniably targeting the wrong people. Our country is at war and there are very few people who can change that -- and certainly not college ROTC students from Charlottesville. President Bush and his advisors will probably never hear of the vandalism.
Instead, the ROTC students who have so willingly volunteered themselves for trying duties in the scariest of time will have to deal with the ramifications of the protests. They will have to walk around on a campus faced with students who despise what they stand for and every day see the marks of the vandals as they enter their classrooms.
Everything about that is wrong. These students -- our fellow Cavaliers -- are making huge sacrifices in order to ensure the safety of this country and all its citizens. Right after graduation, they could be shipped off to Camp X-Ray to guard terrorists, Afghanistan to try to help an unstable peace, or right into the Lion's Den of Iraq. If anything, they deserve only our undying support and appreciation.
If it weren't for men and women throughout history like the ones who were willing to sign up for ROTC, our country would be nothing. There would have been no one to stand up to imperialist Britain 200 years ago, no one to defend our borders during the 1800's and no one to stand up against Germany and Japan in the 1940's. Americans owe their very way of life to every man and woman who is ever willingly stepped into a uniform and stood up to fight.
Regardless of whether or not one agrees with it, the fact remains that America is at war with Iraq. Disagree with the war -- that's fine. Protest with letters to the President and marches -- super. But support our armed forces. When they pledged to defend our country they did so no matter what comes their way. It's undeniable that there are probably some troops who don't agree with this war, who would rather have let diplomacy take its course. Yet they still are putting themselves in harm's way. They are still risking life and limb to stick to their oath of service.
That alone should be enough to honor these great men and women. If it is not, think of the soldiers whose have been injured during the past week. Think of those soldiers whose POW experience is being splashed all over Iraqi television. Are we going to let them come home to people bad mouthing their service and their honorable duty? Are we going to let them see on the news American citizens -- the very people they are risking everything to defend -- attacking sacred symbols of the Armed forces? It's heartbreaking.
Even more upsetting is the idea that the spouses, parents, siblings, and children of those killed will see this type of backlash against everything their lost loved one stood for and stood up for.
If you are against the war, protest against the people who can actually do something about it. Write letters to the government, march in D.C. or hold a candlelight vigil on Richmond's capital steps. Don't attack those who cannot do anything to change American foreign policy, and are risking everything to try to protect the protesters and their freedom of speech.
It is that freedom of speech that gives Americans the right to gather together and speak out against that which they do not believe in. The incidents at the ROTC buildings were not an expression of freedom of speech. They were criminal actions and the persons responsible deserve to be tracked down and held accountable. Breaking and entering, vandalism and petty theft are never okay, no matter what political statement is trying to be made.
This war is being fought right now and lives are being lost everyday. As a country we must gather together and support our military men and women. It is not to much to ask to repay the ultimate sacrifice.
(Maggie Bowden is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. She can be reached at mbowden@cavalierdaily.com.)
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