It seems to me . . .
Bob Beanblossom November 2015
Veterans Day is a time of remembrance. We recall those who have served our country in the past and those now serving. We honor them. We remember the families of those who didn’t come home and those who came home forever changed. We remember the families who worked hard and waited, hoping against hope that their loved one would be spared to come home to the country and family for whom so many sacrifices were made.
Their sacrifices demand reciprocal service: We, too, have a duty, a price to pay. Our self-declared enemies–those nations of the past, defeated and dead, and the ideologies of today who would destroy us–all boasted that an enslaved world would bow to their standards–their flags. By the grace of God we are still in the fight. Let us continue on that well-trodden path called Liberty, built by the blood and sweat of patriots who served God and believed in Liberty.
Let us go with our standard–the Stars and Stripes–held up high and lofty, where eagles fly, so that free men can look up to it while standing tall and proud: One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
When we kneel, we kneel to pray, never in subservience to the false god of government. That is the legacy we have inherited from our fathers and the one we owe to our children.
War is never glorious. It is killing and maiming and destroying. It is pain and suffering and, too many times, dying. It is leaving loved ones behind and fighting to save your buddies and waiting—always waiting. It is to be avoided whenever possible.
But when our nation legitimately calls us to war we should go for one purpose—to WIN, to DEFEAT the enemy, as quickly and as thoroughly as God allows. And for no other reason.
Today, we face ongoing no-win wars in the Middle East. But, we face a more insidious war within our own nation. Today there are those who want to redefine who we are, where we came from, and where we are going. They, like any enemy to our great nation, must be removed from power. Truth must be our standard-bearer as we seek out and replace the destroyers. The ballot-box is our weapon of choice, and as of today, is still a irresistible force, greater than the will of any politician or political party. Vote. Vote every time the polls are open. Vote for those who died that we might live. Vote that our children and their children and grandchildren will live as we have in “One Nation under God, with Liberty and Justice for ALL.”
Following is an introductory note to this article that I poste on Facebook on 11 November 2020:
Tomorrow is Veterans’ Day. The latest data states that we have 17.4 million American veterans living among us, or about 7 percent of our population. Data shows that about 1 in10 vets have “seen” combat, but this number is misleading: wars since post-Korean have no “front.” The war surrounds every person in-country. Data also shows that of the 2.6 million service personnel who served in in-country Vietnam, about half found themselves in harms way.
Vietnam was my war. My generation engaged in the most contentious conflict in American history since the Civil War. It is topped, however, by the conflict in our own country today. No longer are “We the People,” America the Melting Pot,” and “E Pluribus Unum,” that once described who we were—or, at least, who we were striving to become.
Alexis de Tocqueville was a French historian who wrote about his observations of American liberty in 1831. Here are a few quotes of his worth considering in this age of feelings over facts, opinion over rule of law, and the wholesale replacement of moral values with doing what feels good at any cost:
“Liberty cannot be established without morality, nor morality without faith.”
“America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.”
“The American Republic will endure until the day that Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money.”
“. . . everybody feels the evil, but no one has the courage or energy enough to seek the cure.”
His observations are pertinent on this Veterans’ Day. The millions of men and women who have served in our military since the American Revolution did not do so to see their country destroyed from within. They did not (and are not serving) to watch their countrymen rejection of the Rule of Law as established by the constitutions of the United States and the various States, to endorse rioting and looting in the streets of this country, or to support a political system that believes it exists to rule rather than serve. Too many veterans return home from foreign service to find the land they left changed drastically.
Veterans are a diverse group. Some are volunteers, some have been conscripts. The incentive, the drive, is as varied as the individuals, but the sense of duty to their comrades in arms is held above all other values regardless of any of the characteristics that divide the folks at home that they serve—too often to their own death or permanent disability.
Take time to consider the price American veterans have paid for you, and the cost they and their families have paid and often continue to pay for their lifetimes. Are we as Americans doing our share to repay each of them by supporting the America that we find represented by the flag-draped coffins, veterans’ hospitals, and damaged families? Are we doing share to assure “One nation under God?”
Check out the link to see a brief essay on “Veterans Day—The Price We Pay,” that I wrote back in 2015, but remains pertinent today. Thanks for taking time to read this. Even more thanks for supporting the US of our Constitution and the rule of law, where all lives matter, and where each citizen is treated equally under that law regardless of “special” considerations.