Ayer estaba leyendo el periódico y me enteré que el servicio militar
nuevamente será obligatorio en el Perú, noticia que ha causado tremenda
polémica ¿A quién le gustaría hacer el servicio militar si no tiene vocación para ello? Bueno, dejemos la polémica a los medios, más bien quisiera tomar este tema desde otra perspectiva, más que nada a través de fotos, no de soldados o cuarteles, sino más bien, de un documento que muchos peruanos, que ya pasamos los 30 años, conocemos muy bien, y que es la Libreta Militar.
Como ya paso los 30 años, saqué mi libreta militar, obviamente. Ese documento que parecía un pequeño acordeón de papel que teníamos que llevar en la billetera, tal cual como el DNI (documento de identidad nacional). Creo que al año siguiente que me inscribí (obligatoriamente) para recabar mi libreta militar, este servicio ya dejó de ser obligatorio, y por lo tanto, ya no era necesario recabarla.
Mi papá también recabó su libreta militar, pero fue en la década del 50 y felizmente, nunca tuvo que usarla, ni yo tampoco, puesto que nunca tuvimos que ingresar al servicio. Ya
cuando la inscripción dejó de ser obligatoria, pensé que estas libretas
serían como un recuerdo, como algo que con el tiempo se convertiría en
un objeto digno de un museo, tal vez. Pero con la nueva ley, seguramente,
volveremos a ver nuevamente estas libretas en circulación.
Yesterday, I read a newspaper stating that the military service will be compulsory again in Peru and, obviously, this news has caused a great controversy in the media. Who would like to perform military service if there is no vocation for that? Well, let's leave the controversy to the media, because I would like to take this issue from another point of view instead, basically through images, not about soldiers or barracks, but rather about a document known perfectly by many Peruvians, who already are over 30 years old, that is the Military Identity Card.
Since I am over 30, I do have a Military Identity Card, which looks like a small paper accordion and by that time it was mandatory to be kept in the wallet (with oneself) all the time, like the Peruvian ID (National Identity Card). I think that following the year when I enrolled (compulsory) to obtain the military identity card, this service stopped being compulsory, and thus, there was no need to obtain it. My father also obtained his military ID in the late 50’s, and fortunately, he has not ever used it, neither have I, because we both had not to enter into service. By the time the enrollment stopped being compulsory, I thought that those IDs would turn into memorabilia, perhaps like something worthy of a museum. But, with the new law enacted, perhaps we would see them again among us.
Yesterday, I read a newspaper stating that the military service will be compulsory again in Peru and, obviously, this news has caused a great controversy in the media. Who would like to perform military service if there is no vocation for that? Well, let's leave the controversy to the media, because I would like to take this issue from another point of view instead, basically through images, not about soldiers or barracks, but rather about a document known perfectly by many Peruvians, who already are over 30 years old, that is the Military Identity Card.
Since I am over 30, I do have a Military Identity Card, which looks like a small paper accordion and by that time it was mandatory to be kept in the wallet (with oneself) all the time, like the Peruvian ID (National Identity Card). I think that following the year when I enrolled (compulsory) to obtain the military identity card, this service stopped being compulsory, and thus, there was no need to obtain it. My father also obtained his military ID in the late 50’s, and fortunately, he has not ever used it, neither have I, because we both had not to enter into service. By the time the enrollment stopped being compulsory, I thought that those IDs would turn into memorabilia, perhaps like something worthy of a museum. But, with the new law enacted, perhaps we would see them again among us.
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| Esta libreta perteneció a mi papá, era una libreta pequeña, de aproximadamente 10 cm de alto, con pasta dura y con letras impresas tipo "pan de oro". (Año: 1957) |  |
This military identity card belonged to my father, it is a small hardcover book-like ID, with around 10 cm height and gold-leave like letters printed on the cover. (1957).
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Sus páginas ya están un poco desvencijadas y deterioradas por el tiempo. En ella muestra los datos personales, y las típicas fotos de frente y de perfil.
Notemos que en aquella época, aún consideraban que la raza japonesa era de "color amarillo". Con el pasar de los años, ya las descripciones no eran tan "estereotipadas" (o ¿tendría que considerarlas como "racistas"?).
|
The pages are a little tattered and damaged due to the time. On them we can see the personal data and the typical front and side photos. Note that the Japanese race was still considered as a “yellow color” in the physical feature section by that time. Over the years, descriptions were not so "stereotyped", (or, i should say “not so racist”?).
| Y este "acordeón de papel", era mi libreta militar, de 1997.(¡Recién me doy cuenta que son exactamente 40 años la diferencia entre la emisión de la libreta de mi papá con la mía!). Tiene aprox. 25 cms. de ancho. Era un simple pedazo de cartulina delgada a la que teníamos que guardarla en una mica, porque de otro modo, podría deteriorarse.Como no me gusta la foto que me tomaron, opté por borrarlas (en el mismo cuartel, tomaban las fotos, de frente y de perfil). |  |
And
this “paper accordion” corresponds to my own military ID, issued in
1997. (I just realized that the difference between the time of issuing
of my father’s ID with that mine is exactly 40 years!). It is
approximately 25 cm and made of a simple thin cardboard, which should be
kept in a transparent pocket-like acetate; otherwise, it would get
damaged. I deleted my photos before posting it on the blog because I do
not like how my looks was at that time (photos were taken in the same
enrollment office).
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Y esta es la parte interna de la libreta, con los datos personales. Personalmente, me gusta más la de mi papá, que ostenta una bella caligrafía, al parecer hecha con una pluma fuente. La mía, simplemente, es una libreta tipeada fríamente a máquina. |
And this is the backside of my military ID, containing personal data. Honestly, I like most my father's ID, which has a beautiful handwriting, maybe made with a fountain pen, very stilish. My ID is a plain typewritter machine-typed ID instead.
Como vemos, la historia se repite, pensé que ya no la volvería a ver, o siquiera escuchar de ella, pero... ¡qué diferencia entre la libreta militar de hace casi 60 años con otra casi actual!
As we could see, history repeats itself, I thought that I would not ever see them again, or even heard about them, but... what a difference between the military ID issued almost 60 years ago and another ID almost recently issued!
