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By Ray L. Walker
Good morning. Honored guests, civilian and military, and all our veterans. As a veteran I have been asked to
tell you what motivates our service; why we are willing to help keep our nation free.
It is altogether fitting that we meet here at The Hermitage, home of General Andy Jackson, the hero of the
Battle of New Orleans. General Jackson was prouder of being a general in the American military than he was
having been president.
Today we are here to honor all veterans of our wars. And today has a very special place in the hearts of all
Marines, present and former, for it is the 226th birthday of my beloved Marine Corps, founded at Tun Tavern, in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on this day in 1775, eight months before the birth of our nation.
Today, as a veteran and as a concerned citizen, I am both privileged and deeply honored to be asked to
address this audience.
I could tell you many stories of bravery, of death at the hands of an enemy, of decent young men who were
taught well how to fight and kill, who succeeded in defeating our nations enemies, and yet who came home to a
disinterested society, in the case of the Korean War, and to a hostile society in the case of Vietnam. In
Vietnam the American Military won every major battle. We lost the war politically on the home front. Why. Are
there similar sounds of defeatism and pacifism again sounding from the neighborhoods of America? I've heard a
few. So far the nation is behind our men we've sent in harm's way.
Recently I received an e-mail from an anonymous source quoting the heart-felt beliefs of a man presently
serving our nation as a Naval pilot. I was so moved by what he had to say that I have taken the liberty of
including some of his thoughts in my presentation to you today. Whether you are presently serving in the
military or are a veteran, I think I can speak for most you. But I now want to touch the hearts and minds of
those here who have never been in the military.
I will attempt to give you one man’s view of these past months from my military perspective.
Who are we? We are citizens who are or have been engaged in the profession of arms in defense of our homes,
our country, our friends.
We swear before God Almighty to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all its
enemies, foreign and domestic, and to obey the lawful orders of the President of the United States.
Why the Constitution? Why does it not say "defend the country," or its people? We defend the Constitution
because it defines the country completely. It, more than any other document, or cause, or belief, holds us
together as a nation. Until we scrap the Constitution for something new, that document will define and sustain
our nation.
What does it say? In part it says:
"We, the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of
Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of
America."
Where did these words come from? They come from the Declaration of Independence, which made the promises the
Constitution fulfilled:
"We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their
Creator with certain unalienable Rights. Among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. To
secure these Rights Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the
Governed; that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the
People to alter or to abolish it and to institute a new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles,
and organizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness."
This nation’s purpose is to provide a place where the government brings safety, allows happiness through the
protection of life and liberty, and gives its people the justice and tranquility that is the right of all free
men everywhere. This we swear to defend.
Today and for the past three decades, our military has consisted of citizen volunteers. Therefore, the
military has become something apart from you, something you join or don’t join, but something not part of you.
You feel you do not understand it and often view it as some large unseen power. But it is not. It is you and me,
It is us, citizen-soldiers who love the country and all it stands for. Many in the Services have chosen it as
their life’s work. Why, when they could make three or four times their present salary working fifteen days a
month, never going on six-month deployments to parts of the world few have any interest in seeing? Why stay in?
They stay in because they feel it is important.
My anonymous writer says it all!
"Our beliefs in country, liberty, fairness, charity, democracy, are not merely words or passing thoughts.
They are tangible rocks of granite, permanent and unshakeable, as clear to us as the ground we walk upon. They
define us. They keep us on watch in the Persian Gulf when it is 130 degrees outside. They guide us in the
middle of the Pacific Ocean in a storm that makes our ship impossible to see. They are who we are, and we are
you.
"What do we do? Easy, we do what you want us to do. We prepare for and develop plans against enemies our
Commander-in-Chief tells us to prepare for. We recommend, but we do not prepare, we do not plan, we do not act
against anyone or anything that you the people have not told us to do. We who care about this country, vote
for and hold accountable our representatives to control and guide our citizen-soldiers.
"As a citizen I vote. I have political beliefs. I care who represents me. As a soldier, I don’t care who
represents me. I follow the lawful orders of the President, no matter whom it may be, because my Constitution
tells me to.
"Did they fail us on September 11? Perhaps, perhaps not. We citizens love life, we love liberty, we love
happiness. But which do we love more? It depends on the times. This threat has been there for years. Tuesday,
September 11th, was not more dangerous than Monday. Tuesday was just the day it happened. Until then, we loved
liberty and happiness more than life, because circumstances did not threaten life. Now life is threatened. Now
Liberty, and that happiness that comes from liberty, are not held in the same regard as before."
Before this tragedy we did not want the military to be seen in our homes. We would fight the fights away from
home, before they became part of our home. In this new age, we see that the fight can always come home. Israeli
citizens love liberty and happiness as much as you or I do, but the fight has always been in their homes. So
they accept soldiers on the corner, soldiers in the sky, soldiers where they eat and shop and travel, because
they understand the importance of life. Now it is here. And we will decide how much we want the military to be
in our lives here at home.
Our citizen-soldiers will do what you want. They will certainly recommend what they think is best and what
they think we can do, but ultimately it is the citizens who will decide, because that is what our Founders
believed was the way to govern.
What can we do? You’ve listened to what the newsmen say on TV. "This is hard, it is a new kind of war, it may
not be possible." I know what we can do. What our country can do. What we, the people can do. Do not abide in
fear. That is what the terrorist wants.
In the winter of 1950 the 1st Marine Division was surrounded by over 7 divisions of the enemy. The news here
in the USA predicted that the Marines were doomed. But we destroyed our enemy and we came out with our dead and
wounded, our vehicles and weapons, leaving over 35,000 enemy dead on the field of battle. So don’t let the media
discourage you. Our military will win this struggle.
Today we can collect ten warships, led by a 100,000-ton ship powered by two nuclear reactors, all built by
citizens. We can put seventy aircraft on this ship, and with the other nine ships, sail from San Diego to the
other side of the planet, and stay there. And stay there. And stay there. For days, or weeks, or months. We do
not need the help of others to do this.
These men often have been there for more than two months without setting foot on land. The ship is re-fueled,
re-armed, and re-fed at sea as needed.
Our military can do whatever you ask them to do. If you tell them to, they will do their profession. Calmly,
efficiently, methodically, they will find our enemy and destroy him. Our military leaders will tell our
president what their plan is, what the cost is, what the risks are. And the president will decide whether you
the citizen deem the risks acceptable and the costs payable. As citizens, we will choose the course to take, the
pain to bear, the cost to shoulder. Our military will do our bidding, they will accept the risk, and they will
complete the mission you tell them to.
Do not worry that you ask too much. Do not fret that the mission is too hard. All they ask is for your
guidance, and, unlike Vietnam, once the decision is made, to remain with them until the mission is complete.
Pray for them and for each other. From the military point of view, they are not separate from you. They are
us. Together we create and build and man the machines that protect us. Give them your trust as they have given
you theirs, and then watch them do our bidding until we are satisfied.
And in closing let me quote the Cadet Maxim from the United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.
Risk more than others think is safe.
Care more than others think is wise.
Dream more than others think is practical.
Expect more than others think is possible.
"No legacy is so rich as honesty."
May God Bless and Keep you this day and all the days ahead. |
