Larry Marshall Responds To “The Nine Colonels”
“To foolishly suggest expanding the current system which adversely affects 300 young men to one which adversely affects 3000 to 4000 goes from the sublime to the ridiculous,” Larry Marshall Sr. of the anti-conscription group Bermudians Against the Draft said in the response to a recent statement from the nine former Commanding Officers of the Bermuda Regiment.
Last week the Colonels said, “A longstanding criticism of the present system of conscription is that it allows many to escape service completely, whether for medical reasons, for educational reasons or by virtue of some other type of unfitness for military service.
“It may be that a system of National Service, requiring all our young people to take part, but allowing them some choice as to what type of service is performed, will be thought a fairer way,” noted the Colonels.
The group include nine of the eleven living former Commanding Officers: Lt Col Michael Darling, Lt Col CE Raynor, Lt Col Gavin Shorto, Lt Col Allan Rance, Lt Col Patrick Outerbridge, Lt Col David Gibbons, Lt Col William White and Lt Col Brian Gonsalves. Lt Col Brendan Hollis was initially not involved, but has joined the group recently. Lt Col Edward Lamb and Lt Col David Burch are the two remaining COs who are not involved.
In response, Mr. Marshall said, “It is not too much we can say that has not been already been said on the issue of conscription. Our position is encapsulated in the following statement:
“Conscription is morally and ethically wrong. No government should force any of its citizens to work against their will. According to former United States President Ronald Reagan, a conservative Republican, it is morally repugnant. Mr. Reagan also likened the despicable practice to Nazism and with that we agree.
“Our current conscripted army should be replaced by one consisting entirely of volunteers who are well paid, well trained, and well equipped. That is not now the case as those currently serving are grossly underpaid as the powers that be continue to viciously exploit cheap labor because the law allows them to do so with impunity.
“The conscripts are also lacking in fitness which is evident from the extremely low standard required for volunteers. [Running a mile in under 15:00 minutes is not a standard any reputable army would ever accept.] The equipment is indeed outdated as well as it could not be used in any modern army during training exercises.
“So in essence what we have always maintained is that young men, young women, who make up our regiment should be the best they can be to borrow a slogan from the U.S. Army. That is not possible with conscription being used as the tool to both raise and maintain a regiment.
“There are some who are willing to ignore human rights abuses and violations in an effort to keep such an unfair system which has brought immense suffering to an innumerable amount of young men and their parents over the past forty nine years,” added Mr. Marshall.
“That is reprehensible and those advocating such a position should not be taken seriously for the obvious reasons. For them right and wrong never enters the equation and that speaks volumes about their character or lack thereof.
“What is so difficult to understand about the right to a fair wage for what is supposed to be an essential service would be our question to the nine. And please consider the contradiction displayed by respective governments who on the one hand glorify the regiment as an indispensable service while on the other slashing its already slim budget.
“Bermuda has one of the highest GDP’s in the world per capita yet continues to exploit its citizens in 2014. That is wrong. The nine may use a variety of smokescreens to obscure the real issue but we continue fighting for human rights to be enjoyed by all Bermudians irrespective of gender, race or age. Forced labor is wrong no matter what our constitution says!
“To foolishly suggest expanding the current system which adversely affects 300 young men to one which adversely affects 3000 to 4000 goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. Just think of the ramifications.
“And a word of advice to the nine: You cannot force someone to volunteer. To do something voluntarily means on ones own volition and by ones own free will. Not mandatory or compulsory!”
As usual Mr. Marshall, you articulate with much wisdom….I agree
I think these group of 9 are trying to keep their jobs. Of course they want conscription to stay alive and of course they would want it to be bigger!
Ronald Reagan did not say what Mr Marshall alleges he said. During the debate on whether to take conscription off the books in the US, he said the principal objection to conscription was moral, which is a simple statement of fact. He said that conscription “rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state…. That assumption isn’t a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great idea.”
Mr Reagan, like Mr Marshall, in the service of a cause, was stretching the truth about as far as it would go. Nobody seems to be bothered that the state makes children go to school. They don’t get paid for being there. Would Mr Marshall characterize that as a return to slavery?
What a ridiculous man!
I included the quote from Ronald Reagan in comment on a separate article about conscription.
“Conscription rests on the assumption that your kids belong to the state… That assumption isn’t a new one. The Nazis thought it was a great idea.”
What goes alongside this quote is the comment; Forcing someone to work for the country; forcing someone to do anything under threat of punishment, such as prison, if they do not comply – IS involuntary servitude.
I don’t understand your comparison of involuntary servitude to the state making children to go to school.
A conscripted soldier ‘belongs to the state’ against his/her will. Forced to pick up a weapon and use it, forced to do pomp and circumstance marching, forced to take verbal abuse, if one does not comply there is a real threat or jail or being fined.
You have a decision and not forced in deciding what school your kid attends. They can attend public, private, home school, or no school after a certain age. While your kid is in school they do not ‘belong to the state’ they belong to the parent. If you do not like the school they are currently in and you pull your child out tomorrow and send them to a different school such as a home school, there is no threat of punishment for doing this.
There are many other ways people can serve without being conscripted to join a military. We have no military need in Bermuda, whatsoever, to still have conscription as the law.
Conscription removes all aspects of freedom. Any government that uses or endorses military conscription is nothing more than an unlawful, criminal organization because they are denying a specific discriminated group of citizens their basic constitutional freedom rights.
Mr. Marshall if you volunteer you are willing to do whatever volunteering for unpaid. Your getting confused with the volunteers from recruit camp. Those people volunteered for a pay check. It’s hard to get jobs people are desparatly looking for work and pay check. Recruit camp was the quickest way to get it. A little hard work at the end of weeks two you have money in your pocket. So the regiment now look good cause they a record amount of volunteers and people are happy cause they have money in there pocket.
You are wrong. Mr. Marshall intends for there to be paid volunteers. The word volunteer doesn’t mean “work for free” it means “on own accord”.
The definition of volunteer from the Collins Gem Dictionary
Volunteer- person who offers voluntarily to something.
Voluntary – done by choice or maintained without payment.
Which volunteer where you looking up lol.
A Full time volunteer soilder makes no sense. He can be a full time solider. Your just replacing elistment with volunteer lol.
Please. Just stop. You are severely lacking in the intellect needed carry on a worthwhile debate. lol. “A Full time volunteer soilder makes no sense” – no? Are you dumb or just thick? I voluntarily signed up for my current job that pays me money. And I’m sure you did too. smh. Comprende amigo?
You voluntarily applied for your idiot. But your job is not a voluntary insitution is it? Which is why you would get a pay check. LOL but we are talking about making the Regiment a volunteer institution.. Right now we have full time soliders and part time. I volunteered to be in the regiment before i was enlisted. I’m getting paid because the regiment is not a voluntary institution. An enlistment free Regiment would totally different thing. Apply to be in the Regiment and meet requirements to be paid for what you are doing.
I’m not speaking litterally, I’m defining the term as it was Figuratively used by Mr. Marshall.
‘A National Service requiring ALL our young people to take part but allows them some choice as to what type of service is performed…’
still forced labor and mandatory service but on a larger scale.
Dunkley is on record supporting a volunteer Regiment so what is his response to the ‘Group of Nine’ and their proposal for more bodies? The last thing we need is more young people having their liberties taken from them to appease others.
You make a good point however I will disagree with you. Having a child go to school provided by the government is a right. The people involved in the Regiment have a right as well, the right to be properly compensated for their works and the right to choose. Conscription is outdated in most of the wester world and honestly in many of the places it is practiced it is totally unnessarry as the high populations would generally provide a stable military force. I’m not for consription, I see consription as another way the oligarchy has control of Bermuda. Their sons don’t go to the regiment, only the sons of their subjects, and this is wrong and must stop.
Also Mr. Marshall as someone who has completed the regiment fitness task with flying colors I must say that your statement regarding “running a mile in under 15 minutes” is false (unless the recently changed it to that standard, and in that case I’m with you). The time that we were givien was nine minutes, which a professional trained soldier would laugh at but for us bermudian males, who love a drink and a smoke It was more difficult than one would think.
One question always seems to come to mind (mine anyway) when I see these stories about conscription being against human rights.
Are the rights of individual above the needs of the community? Is self-more important than US?
We force our kids to go school against some of their will’s because WE feel it’s better for them and US..
We force those that break OUR rules to spend years of their life in a box smaller than most bathrooms because it’s in the best interest of US..
We force everyone to follow various rules of the road and of society because it’s in the best interest of US..
What makes conscription a bigger evil than any of these or other examples I could give?
Is it ok to force some people to do things they don’t want to do for free ok sometimes but not others.. Maybe if it affects my son its BAD but the other stuff is ok..
Just some food for thought
Yes the rights of human beings should always supersede any organizations benefits.
Conscription might only make logical sense when WE are in real danger. When OUR national identity is at stake. And when WE have real enemies. Conscription in the name of ‘national importance’ is laughable for Bermuda and pales in comparisson to places like Israel, who live in a perpetual state of war/threat of it. Our conscripts don’t fight for US. Don’t make US feel safe. And surely don’t have the interests of US above their own. So why conscript them? So that we can put on parades two times a year? Or clean up from hurricanes once every decade? That is, afterall, exactly what they do… How does this benefit US more than than it harms OUR conscripts?
@Outside looking in…Conscripts are neither children nor are they criminals- conscripts are adults and are not in the Regiment because they have broken any laws or rules of the road yet they have had their RIGHTS taken away from them. And yes a person’s human rights are above the rights of a community because a community is made up of individuals first,and thus their rights should be respected and protected to. Who wants to lose their rights? Do you? And if you DO that would be your choice.
The Regiment is a waste of time and tax payers money.
Who will maybe help you when the next hurricane hits Bermuda.
It might be your house that is damaged and needs help.
Wake up you idiotic fool.
The Bermuda Regiment is just what a lot of these young men need.
I would hate to see this island without the Bermuda Regiment.
Get a life fool.
Right, because after 50 years of conscription and tough love from the regiment Bermuda is in a wonderful place. Minus the all-time high for gang murders. And shootings. And drug use. The regiment clearly does very little for our young men, as seen by the evidence around us. And if the regiment actually wanted to help after a hurricane it would train all of it’s soldiers in chainsaw use/other clean up techniques. But they don’t. Only a select few get any training and will ever help in the aftermath of a big hurricane. Which only happens once in a blue moon. What you fail to realize is that no military is needed to clean up after a hurricane. As Bermudians band together and help each other out in times if need. And will get s*** done without angry ‘soldiers’ yelling profanities at us and acting macho to make up for their small d****…
It is interesting to note that in the past Mr. Marshall did not feel that his sons had any obligations to society and that they should not be forced to serve our community. Nowadays his son is attempting to qualify to represent our community so I wonder if he expects us to pay for him to represent us?
There is no guarantee that conscripted solders will take up arms against their fellow compatriots or not defect during civil unrest.
Army life never hurt anyone? Are you serious? Do you think that group of men accused the Regiment of sexual abuse for the fun of it? What man does that? Unfortunately, shame and humiliation follow men(even more than it does women) who admit to being abused. Are we to ignore these accusations? Army life never hurt anyone… tell it to those men who have told of alleged abuse taking place there.
@Southampton, we are having a mature, grown up conversation here if you have nothing intelligent to offer…
and many of us actually want to hear what Mr.Marshall has to say and agree with his ideology on conscription. He is a voice of reason where that is lacking in this topic of conversation.
How Mr. Marshall can be against the establishment of a national service plan to ensure Bermudians of all backgrounds give back to the community is beyond me. Shouldn’t we be encouraging our youth to understand the importance of community and establishing a charitable spirit from a young age? What ever happened to helping your neighbor?
Mr. Marshall’s comments wreak of selfishness and an entitlement mentality.
Hey Larry Marshall Sr….Tell your son to “grow-a-pair” and do his civic duty!!!