Thank You for Your Service
Our service members defend us and it is right to honor them. But there are times when they need defending. And we need to do it.
Thoughts about Veterans Day.
Some of this material was previously published and has been updated for this post.
One bright and sunny day off the coast of South Carolina, I squinted as I opened the door to the bridge of my aircraft carrier after spending all day in the propulsion plant.
The strike group steamed in formation as F/A-18’s launched from the bow catapults, an impressive show of force. Off in the distance, some small boats bobbed in the waves.
Just as a jet shot off the bow, soaring up and away, a voice came over the bridge-to-bridge radio from one of those boats: “You guys are awesome! Thank you for your service. And thank you for giving us freedom ... the freedom to fish!”
That was probably the most unique way I’ve heard anyone thank veterans for their service, and it made us all laugh hard. On the one hand, it was so outlandish, so over the top, those guys thanking us for the freedom to pursue their favorite kind of happiness. But on the other, it was so utterly sincere and heartfelt, maybe the best way they knew to thank us for what we did and what we stood for.
But I’ll tell you. If we as a nation really want to thank our troops for their service, the least we can do is make sure we don’t put them in positions where they risk harming the people (and the constitution) that they swore to protect.
The military is perfectly suited to defend the US from external threats. But what if the real threat to the Republic is internal? Like executive overreach? Or legislative indifference? Or oligarchy? These are real threats to the US, and our military is powerless to stop them. In fact, given their oath to support and defend the constitution (and for enlisted personnel, their oath to obey the orders of the President of the United States), the military may be used by an executive with authoritarian tendencies to cement its own power in spite of the constitution.
In these cases, our active duty service members are placed in a terrible situation. They swear to support and defend the constitution as if supporting and defending are the same thing. They are not. When the executive gives questionable orders, where is the line between supporting the constitution (that is, obeying those orders) and defending it (that is, disobeying them to preserve the Republic)?
No service member should be placed in that situation.
So, I offer you another way to support our troops: We the People can do our part to ensure the government they serve will not make them choose between supporting or defending the constitution. We the People can make sure the government does not use our service members in a way that risks harming our own citizens.
We the People honor our veterans when we show up at City Council meetings. Or when we march. Or when we call our representatives and attend town halls. When we vote. When we write letters. When we speak out. When we organize. We the People need to carry the torch when our service members can’t carry it any further.
In short, We the People honor our veterans when we exercise the rights they defend. And we honor them more when we use those rights to hold the government accountable in ways they cannot.
Today, thank our veterans. Support them. Honor their service.
But in doing so, let’s not outsource to them our responsibility to stand up and make this nation live up to its potential: A more perfect union. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Liberty and justice for all.
In his farewell address in 1796, George Washington warned us about the danger of party politics: "The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation on the ruins of public liberty."
Does that ring true?
Today may we consider what we believe is great about this nation, what we think is worth defending, and honor those who defend it. May we then consider those things in today’s context. If all is well, may we be thankful. If all is not, then may we dedicate ourselves to defending the potential of what these United States have yet to become. Our forebears and our veterans expect nothing less.
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