Military Tragedy in Chile

Sad news out of Chile this week as 45 soldiers have died in a blizzard during a military exercise. There are many questions being raised about why this could happen and there are even reports that Chile may change its draft policy.

Currently Chile has an obligatory military draft that often effects the lower class of the population. As a missionary I worked a lot with these people and heard stories about their sons’ military service. So when I heard the news this week, I wasn’t too surprised since I had heard first hand accounts of mistreatment of recruits. No one looked forward to military service and everyone expected it to be pure hell. I heard stories of physical and emotional mistreatment but nothing on the scale of this recent wintertime disaster.

I hope that this unfortunate event will prompt changes to Chile’s military system. The coming December elections may provide the venue for this change as Chile elects their president. To those who lost loved ones, may God bless and watch over you!

Posted May 25th, 2005 in In the News.

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