I was chatting with a fellow post-doc who is from Ireland. He was telling me of his recent journey to the US, and how he was so fascinated/bewildered/intrigued/mystified by the strong military presence he saw. Well, first he was at a conference attended by many persons serving in the military, and it was his first time to ever see representatives from a country’s armed forces in person. Ireland is such a small, neutral country that one is not exposed to this atmosphere.
Furthermore, the “garda” or police force in Ireland or the UK, does not carry guns, so whenever he saw policemen and such with guns on their belts, he was amazed.
Then in the four airports through which he traveled, he repeatedly saw signs welcoming home the troops. He said to me, “I then remembered that you all are at war!” The way he said it was actually quite piercing and sorrowful. Yes, we have been at war for 6 years now. And yes, many of us forget or lose touch with the larger picture of what is happening around the world and within so many families. This mentality of having troops overseas has become the norm and mentality of a generation of people in the US. It permeates the media and social affairs so much, it’s difficult to realize that in some places like Ireland, everyday life is quite oblivious to the war that is being fought and all the lives that are being affected.
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