Can I ask our Democrat friends, those who are so interested in reaching out to the 48% that "lost" by voting for McCain, those who believe they have finally defeated "Bush", those that spent so much time lamenting how the military was made up of the ignorant, the poor, the minority, the drunk, the angry, the insane, the murderous and any other myths left over from the anti-Viet Nam set who controlled the party and opposed our use of military based solely on the political affiliation of the man elected president...
Is it now cool to serve your nation in uniform?
Are all of those tens of thousands of military men and women who will serve for at least two years more in Iraq and all of those who have served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, have they been transformed by our election into brilliant, honorable, upright, righteous, sober, happy warriors that represent the melting pot of our nation?
Are they now serving a noble cause?
Is General Petraeus still General Betrayus? Or, now that he is the Commander of Centcom, focusing on our efforts in Afghanistan and serving President Obama, has he become a brilliant tactician and leader who will bring victory in the War on Terror?
Will you now put away your signs and your disdain and come to the local Veteran's Day parades to watch the old and the young who have fought, bled and sweat for the flag you suddenly feel patriotic fervor for?
Are you finally proud to be an American?
Once upon a time, I lived in a dream called America. In that dream, I read books about McArthur, Auty Murphy, Lawrence Chamberlain, Nathaniel Greene, George Washington, General Patton, Admiral Halsey and John Paul Jones. I read about the Bataan March, Pearl Harbor, Little Round Top, Bunker Hill, the Marines at Tripoli and holding the cross roads at Bastogne.
I had heroes. They re-enforced the core beliefs that my parents had instilled in me. I believed they served and defended a nation of free people in a cause greater than any one man or any one time.
These last seven years I think that our Democrat friends and their associates have done their worst to teach me that this dream was wrong. That our military does not serve our nation and our people, but only a president, a party and a policy.
They were wrong.
Now they will learn the true meaning of patriotism: love of nation above all else. Our military is still at war even as the nation prepares to change leadership. Nothing has changed. They are still the same people who went to war at behest of our nation. They will do what they are asked to do. Some will leave the military and some will join. I will support them as I always have.
A man was elected to office. Nothing more, nothing less. The man does not make a war any more legitimate than it is today. It does not bestow honor on our veterans nor righteousness upon our nation. They have had that all along.
These men and women have shown every day real service to our nation.
I know that the opposition has been wrong about who and why our military serves because I walked in the veteran's cemetary this weekend to place flowers on my Uncle's grave. Not because it was Veterans' Day, but because it was his birthday and he is still missed. I walked along the stones. I have been so many times, I know when I am getting close to his grave by the names on the stones. Two stones down is the grave of a colonel who served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He served under five presidents, Republican and Democrat. He served in the "popular war", "not so popular" and the "unpopular".
He did not serve a man nor a policy. He served a nation.
I pray that in seven years we are no longer at war. I thank God for those who have served our nation these many years and all those years in the past. At this moment, I give special thanks for all those who have served our nation in uniform for many years and across many administrations. They are the epitome of our democracy. A nation of laws governed for the people and by the people. That is who they served.
May God grant that it always be so.
Is it now cool to serve your nation in uniform?
Are all of those tens of thousands of military men and women who will serve for at least two years more in Iraq and all of those who have served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, have they been transformed by our election into brilliant, honorable, upright, righteous, sober, happy warriors that represent the melting pot of our nation?
Are they now serving a noble cause?
Is General Petraeus still General Betrayus? Or, now that he is the Commander of Centcom, focusing on our efforts in Afghanistan and serving President Obama, has he become a brilliant tactician and leader who will bring victory in the War on Terror?
Will you now put away your signs and your disdain and come to the local Veteran's Day parades to watch the old and the young who have fought, bled and sweat for the flag you suddenly feel patriotic fervor for?
Are you finally proud to be an American?
Once upon a time, I lived in a dream called America. In that dream, I read books about McArthur, Auty Murphy, Lawrence Chamberlain, Nathaniel Greene, George Washington, General Patton, Admiral Halsey and John Paul Jones. I read about the Bataan March, Pearl Harbor, Little Round Top, Bunker Hill, the Marines at Tripoli and holding the cross roads at Bastogne.
I had heroes. They re-enforced the core beliefs that my parents had instilled in me. I believed they served and defended a nation of free people in a cause greater than any one man or any one time.
These last seven years I think that our Democrat friends and their associates have done their worst to teach me that this dream was wrong. That our military does not serve our nation and our people, but only a president, a party and a policy.
They were wrong.
Now they will learn the true meaning of patriotism: love of nation above all else. Our military is still at war even as the nation prepares to change leadership. Nothing has changed. They are still the same people who went to war at behest of our nation. They will do what they are asked to do. Some will leave the military and some will join. I will support them as I always have.
A man was elected to office. Nothing more, nothing less. The man does not make a war any more legitimate than it is today. It does not bestow honor on our veterans nor righteousness upon our nation. They have had that all along.
These men and women have shown every day real service to our nation.
I know that the opposition has been wrong about who and why our military serves because I walked in the veteran's cemetary this weekend to place flowers on my Uncle's grave. Not because it was Veterans' Day, but because it was his birthday and he is still missed. I walked along the stones. I have been so many times, I know when I am getting close to his grave by the names on the stones. Two stones down is the grave of a colonel who served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam. He served under five presidents, Republican and Democrat. He served in the "popular war", "not so popular" and the "unpopular".
He did not serve a man nor a policy. He served a nation.
I pray that in seven years we are no longer at war. I thank God for those who have served our nation these many years and all those years in the past. At this moment, I give special thanks for all those who have served our nation in uniform for many years and across many administrations. They are the epitome of our democracy. A nation of laws governed for the people and by the people. That is who they served.
May God grant that it always be so.
That said, my friend (last I heard, still currently serving) is, and always has been a soldier first, and a voter second. No matter his political convictions, he answers the call, and you won't see those politics in the squadroom.
"[L]ove of nation above all else." I like that. Very much.
Well done.
Was this meant to be a Veterans Day post? It serves quite well for that.
But... I can't resist observing that a)it's not December 10th yet, and b)it wasn't the Baton March, but the Bataan March.
I think I'll leave, now... :)