When do you feel safe?
For most, it is when they are home, surrounded by people they love and familiar things. Especially this time of year, a warm fire and friendly conversation around good food is the picture of security and peace.
Now, imagine purposefully leaving that feeling of safety and security. Imagine knowing that you may never feel that way again or return to that place of happiness. Imagine giving it all up and putting yourself in harm’s way, knowing that death is a plausible option.
This is the definition of a soldier. A patriot. A hero. A veteran.
My grandfather served as a pilot in the US Navy during World War II. I never knew him, but my parents and grandmother kept his memory alive with stories of his bravery and sacrifice. He was one of hundreds of thousands who answered the call, selfless men and women who fought, bled and died so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today.
I found it very fitting that the latest GOP debate occurred the day before Veterans Day. The topics of veteran care, military spending and national security were all discussed, important topics that need debated, solutions found, and then plans implemented.
To understand how to answer these important questions though, we must first understand why we celebrate Veterans Day. When you boil it down, we celebrate and honor our veterans because they gave of themselves in order to protect the United States of America.
An inquisitive mind will continue this train of thought – why would anyone do that? What were they fighting for?
I found the Oath of Enlistment to be quite instructive, not to mention sending chills up my spine.
“I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.”
When you ask the ‘man on the street’ what our veterans fought for, invariably the answer comes back, “Freedom, obviously.” And one would be correct in thinking this.
However, take a step closer. Freedom is the general term for something very specific our military men and women fought for. The oath taken binds them to “….support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic….”
When asked, “What have our veterans fought for?”, how has it come to be that “fighting for freedom” is the answer that most would give? I would submit to you, that the reason is – the terms are synonymous.
Freedom. The Constitution of the United States. In America, fighting for one is fighting for the other. And what is more, one cannot exist without the other.
While many may not realize this fact, or just choose to ignore it, it remains. No soldier has ever taken an official oath to protect ‘freedom’ or the ‘American Way”. Rather, their brave commitment has been to the Supreme Law of the Land. And it is because they have kept that commitment that we remain as free as we are today.
Look around, we are one of the most free, most prosperous nations in the world. And we have been that way for over two-hundred years. And while it is true that we are not as free as we once were or were meant to be, that fault does not lie with our Constitution or with our soldiers.
Rather, it lies heavy on the shoulders of the so-called ‘leaders’ in Washington and governing bodies around the country who ignore the very Constitution that our brave veterans fought and bled to protect and uphold.
As your thoughts go out to those who served, never forget why they served. We have a Constitution that has weathered the storms of time protected by some of the greatest men and women who ever lived. That Constitution, when revered and followed produces the greatest amount of freedom any country has ever known.
Let’s get back to that. One of the greatest honors that we can ever show a veteran is upholding the Constitution, showing them that their service and sacrifice was not in vain.
To all those who served, thank you can never be enough.
