The Cruel Unfairness of War

So the best student from my intro to philosophy class came by today to get his grades. He got an A of course, and we had a nice chat about Political Liberalism. I mentioned that I looked forward to seeing him in my ethics class next year. He said he looked forward to it as well, and hoped he'd be here.

But, this morning at 7am he got a call that he was being re-upped in his military unit. He served six years ending last year. Infantry. He served in Kosovo, Haiti, Afganistan and Iraq, all frontline combat. How much can we ask of him. Now he is one of my most promising students, one who does all of his homework, who does the reading, who is thoughtful and an active participant.

The thought that he could be killed by some car bomb in Iraq, or friendly fire in Afganistan just makes me sick. Intellectually I felt bad for all our soldiers (and those of Iraq, Afganistan, etc..) but this is different. More emotional. I feel sick.