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EDITORIAL
Op-Ed; Golden answers to a higher calling
THOMAS M. KEANE JR.

03/21/2003
Boston Herald
All Editions
037
(Copyright 2003)

The last time Brian Golden went to war, he almost lost his job.

Golden is a state representative. A member of the Army Reserves, in December 2001 he was called to duty, serving for six months as part of the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.

Some in his district (which includes Allston, Brighton and part of Brookline) were furious. They denounced him for abandoning them. They said he should resign. And a few made it clear that their real problem wasn't just Golden's politics: It was that he was a soldier. Notions of patriotism and duty stuck in their craws.

His absence complicated what was already a difficult election battle last year. Golden just eked out a victory. And now he's gone again.

On St. Patrick's Day, he got new orders. The day after, he shipped out.

Golden, a lawyer for the Army's Judge Advocate General's Corps, has an easier posting this time around: He's at the Pentagon. For the next four to six weeks, he figures, he'll be full-time in Washington, D.C. After that, he's hoping to go onto a four-day-on/ four-day-off schedule that will allow him to commute back and forth to Massachusetts.

In the 18th Suffolk District, the rumblings have begun again. "It's a conflict," says one opponent to the war. "As a soldier he can't be critical of the commander in chief."

Others argue Golden's military obligations cheat his constituents. "We need our elected officials 24/7," says one prominent Brighton activist - anonymously (in fact, none of those who disapproved of Golden's military service would go on the record). "He can't be two places at once," says another.

Those complaints have a patina of reasonableness. When Golden was in Bosnia, he wasn't around to vote on critical issues. And he'll be missing now as the Legislature gears up to produce a budget.

Golden doesn't buy the criticism. Politicians shouldn't be immune from military service, he argues. "I should be willing to shoulder the same burdens that those in other professions bear," Golden says. "Plumber, teacher, nurse - we each have jobs that are of significant value. I don't want to minimize my job, but I'm not indispensable."

And Brighton resident Margaret McNally, echoed the feelings of many in the district- when she said, "This is a higher calling."

And surely she is right. Matters of war are of the gravest consequence. It is absurd to complain that a pol isn't around for a community meeting because he's off serving his country.

Moreover, contrary to those who think Golden's military service a diversion from politics, it is just the opposite. It touches the core of what it means to be a public servant. And it very well may make Golden a better politician to boot.

A product of Boston Latin School, Harvard College and William and Mary Law School, Golden certainly had no obligation to join the military. Yet, he remembers his last year of law school, evaluating lucrative job offers and wondering about the direction of his life.

"I was despondent," he says, worrying he would simply become another "money-grubbing lawyer." He felt he owed something to his country, and so he went in an entirely different direction. For three-and-a-half years he was on active duty in the Army JAG Corps. In 1997 he left, went into the Reserves, and moved back to Brighton. Just 18 months later, he won election to the Massachusetts House of Representatives.

Golden's military experience makes him uncommon in the state Legislature. By his reckoning, fewer than 10 in the 200-member body are vets. And by staying in the Reserves, by subjecting himself to a call-up, he is even rarer: A politician who is personally and directly affected by decisions of war and peace.

State reps, of course, have no direct influence on U.S. foreign policy. Yet Golden will inevitably deal with related issues - from homeland security to the plight of returning veterans. "I think it's a good thing for politicians to understand the military, to understand the effects of war and duty on people and their families," he says.

There is a canard that politicians would never choose war if they or their families were the ones put at risk. The logic of the argument is dubious (so too are the facts - the children of many politicians have fought and died in American wars). And Golden certainly stands as a sharp counterpoint. He is deeply proud of his service in Bosnia. "It was a peacekeeping mission that ended a genocidal war," he says. And he is equally proud of his service today. "My role as a soldier is to give effect to a democratically- arrived decision," he says.

So for a while, it seems, parts of Boston and Brookline will be without their state rep. But the district is hardly being cheated.

In fact, it's really quite lucky.

Tom Keane can be reached at tomkeane@tomkeane.com.

Caption: GOLDEN: Unlike critics, he shines as soldier, citizen.