The man was insufferable. He seemed unable to say a word to us lesser breeds without the law unless he was reminding us of what a brilliant attorney, financier and altogether superior type he was. And we weren't. But sure as pride goeth before a fall, one day he went a step too far and wound up in a federal penitentiary.
Ah, but you should see him now. He's a changed man, and a much more kind, congenial and just plain human sort. Being locked up may be the best thing that ever happened to him. The only thing better might have been having to share a cell block with other distinguished penitents. Then they could have all bonded together in a common unit, and not only kept each other straight but given them a common mission to accomplish.
The sheriff's deputies who run Garland County's jail understand. They more than understand. They don't just preach but practice the virtues of a program that keeps vets together while behind bars. Maybe that's because they've seen the good a spell in the clink can do. So when veterans are arrested and duly convicted in Hot Springs, they share special pods. They even have their branch of the military stitched onto their otherwise uniform prison togs.
Listen to Jeffrey Estright, who worked on jet engines when he was in the Air Force and now looks forward to enrolling in Pulaski Technical College once he's out in the free world. "I wouldn't have gotten back into school if not for this," he says of Garland County's program. "This time next year, I hope to be working on an airline."
Veterans who are jailed together stay together. It seems they revert to the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines they used to be. They not only straighten up and fly right but hold each other accountable the way they used to in the service. They bond together with their comrades in a common mission. They're buddies again, not isolated criminals.
Come to think, it might do the rest of us some good to serve in the military at some point in our lives. It's a good idea, the citizen-soldier, even if it has become unthinkable in these ever more permissive times.
But even to suggest such a thing marks one as a hopeless reactionary in these politically correct times. Who except a strange bird like Tom Cotton would enlist, and in the U.S. Army Rangers at that, and serve not one but two tours of duty in Middle East combat zones with distinction? Instead of enjoying a nice, safe and lucrative career as another over-compensated lawyer back home. What an unusual choice for a leading public figure these post-John McCain days.
How things have changed, and not for the better. Today we have presidential candidates, professional intellectuals, and the kind of people who used to be called Thought Leaders all kibitzing at great length about military affairs they know nothing about.
Our veterans deserve better than to be judged--and snubbed--by those who have no real idea of what they've gone through. Those vets who get in trouble after they return home to a less than hero's welcome need tough love, but love just the same. Instead they mostly get only perfunctory thanks at political rallies and on ceremonial occasions ("Thank you for your service") from those who would never think of serving themselves.
Our vets deserve a break, like a chance given to them in Garland County.
Editorial on 06/15/2016