My grandfather fought in France and Belgium during the First World War. He was 23, and in the artillery, which fact rendered his experiences long-distance and comparatively impersonal. He did what he was told to do, came safely home, and then never talked much about his war.
My father was a veteran of the Second World War, and also only 23 when he took part in an amphibious landing on Borneo, the horrifying details of which my brother learned only a month or two before Dad's death at the age of 89. Having somehow got safely off the beach, Dad became forward scout in the jungle, and would later occasionally recall a few hair-raising moments, sufficient to make siblings and self realise we had had a very good chance of never experiencing the vicissitudes of this vale of tears.
I don't recall these stories in detail, but I do recall my mother telling me what Dad had said to her. If you knew what I had to do under orders, you would leave me. She didn't want to leave him; she never asked.
My second son has been in the Greek Army for nearly 20 years; he was 19 when he joined up. Duty in the Bosnia of 1997, when he, too, was 23, was bad enough, but he has not seen active service. Thank God.
I initially tried to talk him out of the army idea.
'What will you do if you receive orders that go against your conscience?'
'I'll worry about that when the time comes.'
The reply of a very young man, one who had yet to learn that the whole of life is a learning curve, and that many a googly will be bowled at us before we are done.
'It'll be too late then.'
I had to accept, though, that there was nothing I could do.
*****
I remain interested in matters military, and was bemused by the fact that Bradley Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison for releasing evidence of US army atrocities into the public domain. The people who committed these crimes have received sentences that are almost ludicrous in their lightness. Manning has said he did not want to harm or betray his country, but followed his conscience in making shocking acts known to the world. His orders, however, involved secrecy, and President Obama, a lawyer himself, has stated that Manning broke the law.
There is a case, however, for breaking laws that are dubious. And for disobeying orders of a similar kind.
Legal minds have given a great deal of attention to the concept of Superior Orders, which became so important at the time of the post-war Nuremberg Trials that a significant ruling became known as the Nuremberg Defence. Nazi war criminals pleaded that they had been only obeying orders, but the ruling disallowed this plea: 'The fact that a person acted pursuant to the order of his Government or of his superior does not relieve him of responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him.'
Manning clearly felt that a moral choice was possible. He made that choice, and started suffering for it at least three years ago. And will continue to suffer, unless he receives a presidential pardon.
The Australian forces have what they call a Defence Whistleblower Scheme. The public and members of the defence forces are able to report misconduct, unethical behaviour, fraud, breaches of security, unlawful discrimination, misuse of defence resources, and practices that could jeopardise occupational health and safety. So I suppose that the Australian equivalent of Bradley Manning, whistleblower, would have the whistle blown on him in his turn for breaches of security.
There seems to be no place for nuance here, no acknowledgement that people grow and alter and so change their minds about all sorts of issues. The group rules, and the individual who does not fit or obey, is bound to suffer.
As it happens, 2 October is the International Day of Non-Violence, which coincides with the birthday of Gandhi, and is a National Holiday in India. Gandhi pioneered the concept of political non-violence and the notion of passive resistance. He, too, inevitably suffered and paid the highest price because of his moral choices.
A great many people, like Gandhi, desire a non-violent world, a world in which whistleblowers and thoughtful, idealistic individuals are honoured rather than punished. It may be a sign of hope that here in Greece, the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, an organisation dedicated to the practice of violence against immigrants to Greece, is finally being brought to account. Gandhi died violently in 1948. But we have to keep believing in his ideas. And hoping.
Gillian Bouras is an Australian writer who has been based in Greece for 30 years. She has had nine books published. Her most recent is No Time For Dances. Her latest, Seeing and Believing, is appearing in instalments on her website.