Former Marine Kevin Gonzalez never had to formally defend the
military on campus until a couple of days before the election, when
he did it without a second thought.
Gonzalez, a second-year undeclared student, was offended when a
posting on the MyUCLA forums accused soldiers of loving war.
“I freaking replied to that and said, “˜You are a
freaking idiot,'” Gonzalez said. “I told them
nobody loves war ““ they join to make sacrifices for their
country.”
Gonzalez, who had served as a U.S. Embassy guard across the
globe and ended his tours of duty before the onset of the Iraqi
war, said whenever he hears anything derogatory about U.S. troops,
he doesn’t hesitate to “put my two cents in.”
From walking out of classes to protest the Iraqi war in 2003 to
declaring that President Bush is “not my president” in
a rally last week, students on campus are often adamant and vocal
about their anti-war and anti-Bush sentiments.
While these views are compatible with most students’
ideologies, there are a few who cringe every time a statement
against the country or its leader is made: student veterans.
The environment on campus is not hostile toward veterans,
Gonzalez said, but it’s “not ideal” either, he
added.
“I don’t need to feel joy (for being a veteran) …
I just want to see some patriotism,” Gonzalez said, quickly
adding that his wish to see more flags on campus is not realistic
on a liberal college campus; “that’s in my little
world.”
Like Gonzalez, 25, some students affiliated with the military
often subscribe to what is perceived as more patriotic views than
the campus mainstream and can sometimes experience discomfort in
their surroundings.
And while campus leaders, professors and most students say
anti-war beliefs do not translate into anti-soldier sentiments, the
line between the two begins to blur for some people.
During an interview in September, David Lowenthal, a recent UCLA
graduate and a veteran of the first Gulf War, recalled an incident
when he sported a shirt that supported U.S. troops on campus while
he was a student last year. He said he attracted negative comments
from both students and his professor. In general, Lowenthal, who
served in the Air Force in the early 1990s and enrolled at UCLA in
2001, said he’s had a bad experience on campus.
But student leaders say they would not characterize much of the
student body who have dissenting views from the administration as
being opposed to troops or even “anti-American.”
“That’s a ploy by conservatives to say anti-war
(people) are anti-troops,” said Allende Palma/Saracho,
president of the Undergraduate Students Association Council.
“I think (on) the campus overall, it’s hard to label
anyone as anti-veteran and anti-troops.”
And about the term “anti-American,” Palma/Saracho
said it is “a very ridiculous term for using it to describe
someone that doesn’t agree with your views.”
While most attending the “Not My President” rally
held at Meyerhoff Park on Thursday in protest of the presidential
election results would not characterize themselves as being opposed
to troops, Gonzalez does not see the point in protesting Bush after
the election has ended.
“I wouldn’t have protested if (Sen. John) Kerry
won,” said Gonzalez, who voted for Bush, adding that the
country should support whoever wins.
In a historical context, it is expected that the military
re-elect the incumbent during wartime and take offense to protests
against the current war and administration, said Joan Waugh,
associate professor of history.
The history of honoring veterans in U.S. history dates back to
the end of the Civil War, Waugh said, when “the country shut
down” to honor those who had died in the war. But
commemoration of veterans died down and was not revived until after
World War I.
Gonzalez said he is grateful the backlash toward troops today is
not as negative as during the Vietnam War because he wouldn’t
stand for his fellow soldiers being “spit on.”