Like his friend J.R.R. Tolkien, and many of the British men of their generation, C.S. Lewis served in the grim battlefields of the First World War. (However, since Lewis was actually Irish, he could not be drafted, and instead volunteered to serve.)
In recent years a number of books have appeared related to the military service of the Inklings. In A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War, the author introduces his discussion with a succinct summary.
For a generation of men and women, [WWI] brought the end of innocence – and the end of faith. Yet for two extraordinary authors and friends, J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, the Great War deepened their spiritual quest. Both men served as soldiers on the Western Front, survived the trenches, and used the experience of that conflict to shape their Christian imagination. . . .
By the time of the Armistice, more than nine million soldiers lay dead and roughly thirty-seven million wounded. On average, there were about 6,046 men killed every day of the war, a war that lasted 1,566 days. In Great Britain, almost six million men—a quarter of Britain’s adult male population – passed through the ranks of the army. About one in eight perished. Tolkien and Lewis might easily have been among their number.
In 1939, a correspondent inquired if Lewis was going to reassume his commission in the army for the new conflict, and he responded with sentiments I have heard voiced by a number of other combat veterans.
No, I haven’t joined the Territorials. I am too old. It would be hypocrisy to say that I regret this. My memories of the last war haunted my dreams for years.
C.S. Lewis proceeded to graphically explain the cost of serving under such pressure.
Military service, to be plain, includes the threat of every temporal evil: pain and death which is what we fear from sickness: isolation from those we love which is what we fear from exile: toil under arbitrary masters, injustice and humiliation, which is what we fear from slavery: hunger, thirst, cold and exposure which is what we fear from poverty.
I’m not a pacifist. If it’s got to be, it’s got to be. But the flesh is weak and selfish and I think death would be much better than to live through another war.
A new announcement from the United States’ Department of Defense brought Lewis’ situation to mind. It appears that due to a number of factors – not least of which the emphasis on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion,* which (imo) has discouraged veterans from encouraging their children to serve in the armed forces – some services are repeatedly falling short of their recruiting goals.
In light of the fact that the world is inarguably growing more dangerous – the Doomsday Clock is set at “90 seconds to midnight” – it is alarming that we are unable to fully staff our shrunken military.
Just today my sixteen year old grandson expressed concerns about the resumption of a draft. I could not muster a persuasive argument that it won’t happen. Ironically, the last time the U.S. involuntarily conscripted troops was 1972, the year I turned eighteen. Oh, in the process of including a link to the Selective Service Sytem, I was surprised to learn that a “Medical Draft is in Standby Mode.”
It is designed to be implemented in connection with a national mobilization in an emergency, and then only if Congress and the President approve the plan and pass and sign legislation to enact it. . . .
[The plan will] provide a fair and equitable draft of doctors, nurses, medical technicians and those with certain other health care skills if, in some future emergency, the military’s existing medical capability proved insufficient and there is a shortage of volunteers. . . .
[If implemented, the plan will] begin a mass registration of male and female health care workers between the ages of 20 and 45. . . . HCPDS [the innocuously named Health Care Personnel Delivery System] would provide medical personnel from a pool of 3.4 million doctors, nurses, specialists and allied health professionals in more than 60 fields of medicine.
No Draft Yet
Since we are not currently at war, the specter of a draft remains ephemeral. Still, the shortage of volunteers has led to a variety of initiatives, such as lowering service qualification standards. These efforts have proven inadequate, resulting in the aforementioned announcement.
Both the Army and the Air Force have begun Retiree Recalls. Yes, that is just what it sounds like. People who have actually retired from the armed forces, normally after 20+ years of active duty, are being recalled to serve again.
When I heard this news I was stunned. It is legally possible for the military to recall former members via a tiered process, but the first thing that came to my mind was my favorite high school teacher. He had served in Viet Nam as a draftee and finished his enlistment. He once told me that he felt safe, having survived, because now he was in the same call-up status as a “pregnant nun.” (Rather hyperbolic, but comforting to him.)
Fortunately, the current recalls are all voluntary. Only retirees whose personal circumstances make the offer appealing, will respond. As the Air Force Times reports, “Regret retiring? Here’s your shot at a second chance in the Air Force.”
I suspect that even vets who enjoyed their military service will be inclined to consider redonning the uniform as “too much of a good thing.” And if they witnessed the bloody horrors of war, as seen by C.S. Lewis, returning to the ranks would be even less tempting.
Since I, myself, have no desire to resume the demands of military life, I haven’t researched the age requirements for the Air Force recall program. Like Lewis, “I am too old.”
But amazingly, depending on individual factors, the Army is willing to recall retired volunteers up to the age of seventy. That’s not a typo. As someone reaching that very milestone this summer, I can’t imagine returning to work side-by-side with troops half a century younger than me.
Now, I pray for peace, knowing that being prepared for war is one way to increase that likelihood. So, I hope the military can throw off some of its political shackles and return to its necessary focus.
Furthermore, like C.S. Lewis, I have a pragmatic view of the effects of war. In “Learning in War-Time,” Lewis summarized the effects of military service during a war. As always, his insights are profound.
What does war do to death? It certainly does not make it more frequent: 100 per cent of us die, and the percentage cannot be increased. . . . Does it increase our chances of painful death? I doubt it. . . .
Does it decrease our chances of dying at peace with God? I cannot believe it. If active service does not persuade a man to prepare for death, what conceivable concatenation of circumstances would?
* This reference is to the convoluted and inequitable DEI philosophy and program(s) being mandated today. In truth, most people value diversity, and all people of goodwill believe in the importance of equity and inclusion. Along with Martin Luther King, Jr., they long for a day when people are not “judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Mere Inkling Press 
Moving and interesting.
Thank you. Yes, part of this post are poignant, others are curious, and that seventy-year-old business is downright absurd.
Dear Reverend Stroud,
The world is changing fast. There is a danger that in the future many more countries may be seized by or descending into illiberalism or even fascism, and that more countries and regions could be entangled in wars and conflicts.
Your post seems to be reminding us how lucky we have been in peacetime.
Speaking of the Doomsday Clock set at “90 seconds to midnight”, the world is poised for self-destruction, as humanity is saddled with “Paleolithic Emotions; Medieval Institutions; and God-like Technology”:
During the World War 2, Vera Lynn was singing “Nightingale Sang on Berkeley Square” in 1942. Madam Lynn must be over 100 years old by now, if I am not mistaken.
I like listening to the Warsaw Concerto. When the haunting Warsaw Concerto was being broadcast as the theme song from the movie “Dangerous Moonlight”, my old friend Fred Atkin had the following story to tell at 08:19 PM on 19/04/2005:
In addition, my late mother was twice nearly sent to an internment camp as an enemy alien during the Japanese occupation, as detailed in one of my very extensive posts, published on the day of her funeral in August 2019 as a eulogy-cum-memoir-cum-biography for posterity.
I commend you for composing this post. Happy April to you!
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
We are certainly fortunate to be living during a primarily peaceful era in relatively secure lands. Still, there have been wars all around us, and some in which Western nations have had to take up arms themselves.
One particular setting in which the cycle of violence never seems to end is subsaharan Africa when Islamic jihadists continuously raid and persecute Christians. “Conversion by the sword” tragically remains the theology of millions, evening the twenty-first century.
Yeh, including Northern Mozambique, our neighbour. And certain parts of Nigeria.
The women, men and children of Africa are certainly suffering “far more than their share” in this contentious world.
Neither Lewis or Tolstoy denounced the Russian pogroms. So much for worthless Xtian morality.
Despite the chilly tone of your comment, I would be happy to dialog a bit on this subject. To clarify my interpretation is correct, I assume you are referring to the major pogroms, which I understand occurred in 1821, 1881-82 and 1903-06?
While I have never studied Tolstoy, I can respond to your accusation against C.S. Lewis. First, making one’s “argument from silence” is always a little weak, because we don’t have access to everything a deceased person said or even wrote. However, I will concede that I’m unaware of any place where he publicly denounced these pogroms. Nor am I familiar with any occasion when he was dismissive of these persecutions.
On the contrary, Lewis possessed respect for the Jewish faith, as this brief article about his anti-anti-semitism suggests. https://www.discovery.org/a/1039/
Also, there is the matter of timelines. While Tolstoy lived 1828-1910, during the events in question, C.S. Lewis lived 1898-1963, which means was still a child during the final period in question. And, there is the matter that in his youth he rejected Christianity, embracing atheism, only to reluctantly become a Christian as an adult.
I’ll be happy to discuss the subject further if you have specific concerns.
[[[Despite the chilly tone of your comment, I would be happy to dialog a bit on this subject. To clarify my interpretation is correct, I assume you are referring to the major pogroms, which I understand occurred in 1821, 1881-82 and 1903-06?]]] Yes and the mass population transfer of Jews from the Russian Pale to the United States – ‘golden medina’.
{{{https://www.discovery.org/a/1039/}}} Thank you, had not read this before.
Thanks for the clarification, and my introduction to the term the “golden medina.” It makes much sense when we see that it is a Yiddish term for the “golden country.” The word for “country” initially threw me off due to the city with a similar name.
Golden medina refers to the United States that the Russian Jews made a mass population transfer to New York from the 1880 till about 1910.
First bits I recall reading re. Jack’s experience and feelings about warfare. He didn’t mince words.
Yes, his observation about war resonates so deeply with the observations of other veterans — and those who have lost loved ones in gruesome and merciless combat — that Lewis’ quote is shared in a number of works.
How sad that we have reached this state of affairs.
It definitely is sad, but on the positive side it’s made me feel much younger than I did just a short time ago!
Rob,
Can and I imagine serving? It would decimate a population if everyone and anyone could serve.
Thanks, Gary
Gary Avants Forbear Productions * *garyavants66@gmail.com garyavants66@gmail.com
Sadly, some nations have had to put almost all of their eligible people in uniform. Ukraine recently increased the age window for their draft.