In the past, my wife and watched the last few minutes of the movie Bridges at Toko Ri. The Korean War story realistically portrays the horror and tragedy of war. It realistically portrays common, ordinary men being plucked from their very normal lives to live heroically for a moment before dying virtually anonymously on unknown battle fields. In a poignant moment, the script puts a question to the lips of Frederic March who portrays an Admiral in the United States Navy. As he laments the death of one of his pilots played by William Holden, March asks, Where do we find such men? And, as if to emphasize the glory and the horror of the death of Holdens character, March repeats the question, Where do we find such men? The movie ends on that sacred note and it set me to thinking about a similar question, Why do American young men and women fight in wars and die? Why do ordinary young men and women, who have no personal malice toward anyone, willingly allow themselves to be placed in harms way and often walk into the valley of the shadow of death from which they are reasonable confident they will not return? In World War II, many Japanese men died as kamikaze pilots in hope of an eternity of honor and of delights. Many German men died attempting to establish an empire of super men of Nordic character. Today, many Arab men die attempting to advance their national or religious agenda. Uniquely, the fanatics among the Arab men and women, distorting the tenets of their faith, intentionally and preferentially bring death and destruction upon non-combatants -- upon innocent civilians -- in anticipation, we are told of eternal bliss, at least for the men, of dozens of virgins as their reward for their acts of violence. It is noteworthy that although the Japanese committed atrocities as extensions of national polices, the kamikazes targeted combatants and military targets. Arab terrorists preferentially attack innocent civilians, as they are go about their everyday lives. Without doubt, in the past, American military troops have committed atrocities but not as an extension of national policy, not with the authority of military leaders and never with the adulation and approval of their national or religious leaders. The question still burns into my soul as I hear of young American men and women who are dying daily to protect men like me who never served in the military, at the orders of national leaders who never served in combat, even though their nation was at war when their turn came, Where do we find such men and women? We do not find them in militaristic camps training men and women as terrorists. We do not find them in religious cults teaching hate toward those who are different from them. We do not find them in imperialistic camps living for the day when they can control the world. We do not find them anticipating eternal orgies if they die in misguided acts of terror under the guise of religious furor. We do find them all over America, living normal, ordinary, decent lives. We find them with hopes and fears, ambitions and expectations, sometimes with prejudices, but rarely if ever with the desire to seek out and hurt anyone, let alone someone they have never met or known. All over America, we find young men and women of honor and courage. We find young men and women who are committed to doing their duty and who are eager to survive and to return to their ordinary, normal, decent lives. We find young men and women who are offended by tyranny, murder, anarchy and dictators. We find young men and women, who, while they may be unsophisticated in academics -- although they may well not be -- they have a visceral understanding of and commitment to freedom, to liberty, to security and to the right of every man and woman on earth to experience each and all of these. We find young men and women who, given a choice, would not fight and die but who, when given a legal command, will do both. These are extraordinary young men and women. They are worthy of our kindest thoughts and our best support, because even when they dont agree and even when we dont agree with the decisions of our leaders, so long as those decisions are not illegal and immoral, they will obey. I know where we find such young men and women. They are my neighbors, my friends, my children. And, for one who has never served in the military and who does not approve of many of our national polices and practices, I salute these remarkable and amazing young people. The soil which is soak with their blood is sacred soil. I pray a tree of liberty will grow from that soil, which will be a fitting memorial to those who died and to those who obeyed. May God bless them, their children, their parents and their nation. God help us if anyone for personal gain or advantage desecrates their noble act.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 13:01:52 +0000
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