Over the years as I have traveled the world and America, it has been my privilege to visit several cemeteries and battlegrounds where thousands of valiant Americans have fought and died in the wars of this nation. I have walked these sacred grounds at Yorktown, Gettysburg, Antietam, the Philippines, Arnhem, the Arizona Memorial and the Punch Bowl in Honolulu, the tombs of the Unknown Soldiers and Arlington Cemetery, Hue and the Viet Nam Memorial. I wish to share with my readers the deep meaning these sites represent.
Concord Bridge, Bunker Hill and Faneuil Hall evoke the memory and spirit of common men throughout the Colonies who were determined to prevent “taxation without representation” and to eventually establish the right of Americans to govern themselves. These rag tag minutemen and militia gave notice to the world that America was an opponent of tyranny. Valley Forge proved the toughness of the Colonial soldier.
Some 80 years later, this nation fought the deadliest war in our history to determine whether the Union would survive and whether slavery as an institution would continue or be abolished. Antietam, Gettysburg, the Wilderness and Missionary Ridge were among the critical conflicts. The Battle at Antietam claimed 22,270 casualties on 17 September 1862 from both sides and was the deadliest one day battle in American military history. The corn fields and Bloody Lane at the site are hallowed ground.
From 1917-1918 a new generation of American combatants answered the call to prevent a German victory in a European war that was a mistake and was supposed to be the war to end all wars.
The years from 1933-1941 were dangerous ones in Europe and Asia as the future “Allies” hesitated, were slow to rearm and appeased Adolf Hitler, the hapless Benito Mussolini and the Japanese war lords. Pearl Harbor finally dragged America into the greatest and deadliest war in history where 50,000,000 people died. The final outcome, thank God, was a victory for the Allies. History has carefully documented the roles of the great leaders: Churchill, Roosevelt, Marshall, Eisenhower, Patton, Nimitz, King and MacArthur. No major war can be won without such leaders. Equally true, no war is ever won without the rank and file G.I.s who fought and sometimes died in the trenches, on the beaches, in the air and on the high seas. The men still entombed in the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor, those lost at sea from German U-boat attacks, the brave soldiers who finally took Okinawa and Iwo Jima, the thousands of GI and Brits who assaulted the Normandy beaches and the “Battling Bastards of Bastogne” were the true heroes of WWII. Some 291,557 Americans lost their lives in that long and bloody conflict.
Peace was brief after 1945. In June 1950 American servicemen once again answered the call to arms when North Korea invaded South Korea. The war ended three years later in an armistice at the 38th Parallel. Nearly 34,000 Americans died in that conflict. Next came Viet Nam from 1964-1975. It was one of America’s most unpopular and longest wars where 3.4 million service men and women were deployed and of that number 47,434 lost their lives. The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have accounted for 7,657 deaths. To date America’s sons and daughters who have died in military service total 657,698. These numbers are staggering and deeply touching. It is not always easy to explain why we go to war, but some things we do know. Americans wanted and demanded their independence, so they fought for it. Slavery got to the point where it had to end and those people caught in that evil system had to be emancipated. And most Americans were not willing to see the Union destroyed. Europeans and Asians could not be allowed to fall under the brutal yoke of Hitler’s Nazi Germany and the Japanese war lords. The list seems to never stop. Al-Qaida, North Korea’s communists and the Taliban are the current advocates of tyranny. It is fair to ask, therefore, without our brave and dedicated military service men and women, where would this crazy world be? So here is a tribute to those who have served, those who died and those who today wear the uniform of the United States military.
I trust I speak for most Americans in honoring the dead and wounded and the current members of all US military units who have defended and are now defending our security, world peace and the American way of life which we cherish so deeply. We thank you for answering the call to duty at Valley Forge, Shiloh, Guadalcanal, Pearl Harbor, the Coral Sea, Normandy, Hue, Baghdad, Afghanistan and hundreds of other battle grounds of America’s wars.
Most of you were draftees; today all of you are volunteers. You have served and continue to serve in the best military organization in the world. It isn’t perfect, but you make it the finest in the world. Your professional skill level in the infantry, artillery, air combat, naval warfare, special ops, intelligence, logistics and medical care are exceptional and second to none.
We thank you for leaving home and family, your job, the farm, factory and college pursuits. So many of you, past and present, have left your spouse, children and the comforts of home. Most of you went willingly because you wanted to serve your country, its citizens and protect our Constitutional rights and freedoms. You went knowing full well you might not return or come back seriously wounded. You are indeed very special Americans. Our debt to you can never be fully repaid, but please accept our gratitude for your service. This writer is one American who admires you deeply and sleeps better at night because you have answered the call to duty to serve the American nation and people. God bless you!