Published – Idaho State Journal, 06/03/12
The significance and emotions associated with Memorial Day
should be pervasive, and not limited to a single day each year. A personal
experience this past week made my reflection on that significance even more
poignant this year, and delayed my commentary by a week.
It has always been with a sense of awe that I have regarded
those who have either voluntarily or involuntarily, assumed the role of
guardians of life and liberty, by taking an oath to preserve and defend the
Constitution against enemies, foreign and domestic. I’m deeply moved by our
military men and women who don the uniform of our various military branches, who
may enlist for many different reasons, yet are willing to make the ultimate
sacrifice. They know all too well that they can, and most likely will, be
called upon to place their lives in harm’s way for our sake, and untold
millions around the world.
But my respect and gratitude for them reached a new apotheosis
after observing the solemn, yet exhilarating Basic Training graduation of
nearly 200 new soldiers in the Army 3rd Battalion, 10th
Infantry Regiment “Guardians” at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO, this past week. My
emotions were multiplied by the fact that my youngest son, Jonathan, was among
those graduates.
All Americans should be humbled by our soldiers’ willingness
to assume the formidable task of confronting the belligerent and hostile forces
around the globe that threaten peace, individual liberty, and physical safety.
Yet as a parent of one such brave and noble soldier, emotions are bifurcated;
on the one hand, a sense of pride and gratitude, while on the other,
apprehension and fear of the unknown.
Jonathan’s attitude is likely similar to many of today’s
military recruits. As he expressed to me, “My primary motivation in signing up was
to acquire more skills, discipline, and maturity to fulfill my role as a
husband and a future father. Joining the Army has opened a whole new horizon of
possibilities for my family that were nonexistent just a few months ago.”
He continued, “But as a beneficiary of the efforts and
courage of untold millions who have worn the uniform before me, I’m proud and
honored to follow in their footsteps of safeguarding our liberties and our
national interests. I’ll be forever grateful for parents, grandparents, and
teachers who have instilled in me a love of America and the ideals this great
nation was built upon. I know that I may be called upon to place my life at
risk for others’ sake, and for the defense of our country, and have willingly and
dutifully taken an oath to do so. I will be equal to the task, answer the call
to duty, and will honorably and faithfully execute my mission, whatever it may
be.”
For those of my generation who have witnessed the erosion of
character and substance in today’s youth, such evidence of honor and moral
fiber fosters hope that the rising generation is not comprised wholly of
recalcitrant, narcissistic, and egocentric delinquents. Visiting with one of
Jonathan’s Drill Sergeants, it was evident that our military leaders struggle
to supplant the pervasive contemporary attitudes of self-absorption with the
esprit de corps requisite to form the moral backbone of today’s military.
Ronald Reagan uttered a truism that captured the singular
importance of that moral fiber and depth of character. He said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away
from extinction.” Such character is essential not only for our military men and
women, but our elected leaders, as well as for us, the citizens of the nation.
When personal comforts and aggrandizement threaten to displace our sense of
propriety for the nation as a whole, the very fabric of a democratic society is
jeopardized.
We, as Americans,
should collectively rise up in valor equal to the conviction of those who have
hallowed many lands with their blood, and stand against foes, foreign and
domestic, who seek to curtail and abridge our freedom. The mottos of our armed
forces are at once inspirational, as well as motivational. This time of year is
fitting to reflect on their collective wisdom and our need to embody them in
perpetuity. For the Army, “This We’ll
Defend,” as well as that of the Marines, “Semper Fidelis,” (Forever Faithful)
and the Navy traditional motto, “Not
for self, but for country,” and the Air Force core values, “Integrity First,?Service
Before Self,?Excellence in All We Do.”
Reagan further characterized the need for all of us to strengthen our
resolve, when he importuned, “Let
us make a vow to our dead. Let us show them by our actions that we understand
what they died for. Strengthened by their courage, heartened by their valor,
and borne by their memory, let us continue to stand for the ideals for which
they lived and died.”
AP award winning columnist Richard Larsen is President
of Larsen Financial, a brokerage and financial planning firm in Pocatello, and
is a graduate of Idaho State University with a BA in Political Science and
History and former member of the Idaho State Journal Editorial Board. He can be reached at rlarsenen@cableone.net.