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 3^rd Battalion, 10^th 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. 

By Richard Larsen

Published – Idaho State Journal, 11/13/11

 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” There is no more humbling a realization than that there are others who are willing to sacrifice their comforts, and even their lives, for the preservation of mine. Nothing trumps the acknowledgement that the Lamb of God laid his down for me. But the sense of awe that results from knowing there are mere mortal men and women willing to do that for me on a daily basis comes awfully close.

Veteran’s Day morning I saw a touching picture of my nephew kissing his newborn daughter Molly goodbye as he headed off to “work.” Jim’s “work” is training Marines who have volunteered to protect us and preserve us a nation, and he was dressed in his “work clothes,” Marine greens. For one moment in time, the essence of the humanity, the love, the decency, and the compassion of our military personnel were all captured for me in a single still photo of a noble young man who served two tours in Iraq.

Thinking of him heading off to work to train those fellow Marines reminded me of a statement made once by John Stuart Mill, the English philosopher. He said, "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things; the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. A man who has nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety is a miserable creature who has no chance at being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself."

What an insight, We frequently see bumper stickers affixed to cars ahead of us that naively proclaim, “War is not the answer.” Actually it depends on what the question is. If the question is, “Should we sacrifice our liberty and our freedom for the sake of peace?” the answer is indeed war, unequivocally.

The United States through its military strength has freed more people worldwide from oppression and tyranny than any other nation in the history of the world. And unlike previous world powers, or what some among us would have us believe, we don’t do it for empire building or colonial purposes. The only ground we retain after a war is enough to bury our fallen soldiers. It seems that it’s beneficial for a nation to be a battle zone for America, for not only do we extirpate the nefarious and bellicose elements in a country, but we rebuild the country and attempt to leave it in better shape than what we found it in.

There is nothing glorious in war. Would to God that it would never be necessary. However, as long as there are evil men in the world who tyrannically seek unrighteous dominion over others, war will necessarily be a part of the human experience. Regrettably, sometimes war is the answer. And we should be ever grateful for those who through the years, whether willingly or unwillingly, sacrificed for us.

We have a corps of one and a half million men and women who serve actively in our volunteer military, with an additional million or so in the reserves, many of whom have been activated over the past decade. We have an additional 23 million still living who have proudly worn our nation’s uniform in both wartime and peacetime, while fighting for our liberties, our interests, and the safety and security of countless others around the globe.

Among all who have served, the most heartrending of all, to me, is those who were conscripted or voluntarily served during the 60s and 70s in the most unpopular of our wars, and returned not to a heroes welcome, but to ignominy. It’s demoralizing to think that many of those who spat upon and hurled discreditable epithets at our returning Vietnam veterans now are politicians, academicians, Hollywood celebrities, and “respected” members of society.

Those who served in Vietnam deserve even more of our collective gratitude, since many served not of their own volition, but because of duty and a love of country. This they did rather than flee the country to escape conscription. Even more amazing is the fact that many who served in Vietnam did so voluntarily.

We have hundreds of our friends and neighbors who have answered the call to serve, to whom we are all deeply indebted. They would all say that the only real heroes are the ones who never returned home. But to us, you’re all heroes.

America and all who love freedom thank each of you who served, you and your families, for your sacrifices in our behalf. May we be worthy of your service, and do our part to protect and defend the constitution against enemies foreign and domestic, as you have done.

Published Idaho State Journal - 05/30/10

Memorial Day, that “holy day” when we commemorate the ultimate sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform for our liberty, is so much more than a picnic, or a weekend getaway. It is a day of reflection for those sacrifices made by so many, that hundreds of millions may enjoy even a modicum of freedom and liberty today.

It is a day to pause from the daily grind and celebrate the lives, and even the deaths, of those who have perpetuated this Republic, this One Nation Under God. It is a day to reassess our own convictions to the principles that those who have worn the uniform of our young nation were willing to sacrifice their own lives in order to preserve the legacy of liberty from one generation to another. The torch of Madam Liberty has been successfully passed from the earliest generations of Americans to those who yet wear the uniform. And to them we owe our all.

There is nothing we can do which can repay those who have so sacrificed that we might be free, but everything we do does count in some small way. Abraham Lincoln put into proper perspective what we do to celebrate the lives of those who have been willing to pay the uttermost farthing for our freedom. “In a larger sense, we can not dedicate -- we can not consecrate -- we can not hallow -- this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain -- that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

The Civil War has long since ended, yet the veracity of Lincoln’s statement rings equally true today as it did 150 years ago. We cannot hallow the ground where our brave have fallen. They consecrated it with their blood and their lives. And not only the ground fought over during our Civil War, but around the globe where we have fought to prevent expansion of Godless, liberty destroying communism, the fiendish tyranny of dictators and freedom-trampling totalitarians around the world.

Regardless of the circumstances and the politics involved in their deployment, our service men and women have answered the call for the preservation and expansion of liberty. Regardless of the illogical orders of engagement often negotiated by civilian leaders, the uniformed have answered the call and done so with courage, honor, and humanity.

The few historical examples of impropriety by a few within those noble ranks do not tarnish the sacrifice and service of the many, but rather provide testament to the noble character of those who serve. That over so many years, there would be so few exceptions, validates the service and sacrifice of those millions who have worn the uniform with dignity, respect, and honor.

Unlike great nations in the past who have expanded their borders and their domain by unrighteous wielding of their military might, this nation seeks only enough ground to bury those who have fallen in battle for the liberty of those nations. We are not an imperial power, but a power which seeks to neutralize the nefarious forces which seek conquest and subjugation for aggrandizing purposes.

Ronald Reagan declared, “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.” As a reminder of liberty’s fragility, he also said, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.”

May we as Americans 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. May we adopt as our personal motto that of the Marines, “Semper Fidelis,” and be likewise ever faithful to those Constitutional principles that so many have given the ultimate sacrifice to preserve.