Veterans Day Thoughts

11-13-2007 | DeWiCar

[DeWiCar]

I had the privilege of attending the veteran's day parade yesterday and decided to share some thoughts with you about it.

As we watched them march by I was taken by how humble these soldiers were. The crowd was applauding and yelling thank you, God bless you, and other things such as this. Over and over the soldiers pointed back to the crowd and called back no, thank you.

To understand the position of a soldier you must know that these are men and women who have made a promise to give their lives in defense of the constitution, our lives, and liberty. Things that we take for granted are a part of a soldier's very being. To the soldier, duty, honor, bravery, and sacrifice are not merely words or abstract philosophical concepts but real and practical expressions of their lives, and in some cases their deaths. We saw men who had been wounded, mentally and physically and who had not been nor ever would be the same. The vacant look in the eyes of some of the men from the VA made me wonder what horrors they had experienced that had broken their minds. The smiles and waves from the other wounded made me wonder what horrors they had survived and caused me to marvel that their minds had not broken too.

To be a soldier is to know loneliness, hunger, fatigue beyond what you believe possible, hardship, sacrifice, selflessness, fear, and many other things most of us will never truly endure. To be a soldier is to be misunderstood by the very people to whom you have sworn your life. To be a soldier is to be misunderstood by those who are not. To be a soldier is to care about the world when the world cares nothing for you. To wish to serve and fight when others stay home.

The soldiers life does not consist of parades and medals. It consists of trenches lined by barbed wire raked by machine gun fire and artillery "over there". Of doughboy buddies dying without ever hearing the round that got them. Of missions flown deep into the heart of occupied France or over Germany through relentless flake and fighter attacks. Of watching the planes of men you had breakfast with spiral out of the sky. Of hearing the impact of machine gun bullets on the landing craft ramps before they drop and you run to the beach. Of seeing the bullets find their mark and wondering if you are next. Of the cold harshness of a country most people had never heard of. Of being thankful for the cold because it stopped the bleeding of the wound. Of steaming nameless jungles and relentless patrols. Of being spit on when you came home. Of 100 degree days in the desert in full gear. Of cowardly enemies who specialize in killing the unarmed and who refuse to fight as soldiers themselves.

Of populace and politicians who neither understand nor appreciate your sacrifice nor the ideals that drive it. Of living out "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

[humint]

To the soldier, duty, honor, bravery, and sacrifice are not merely words or abstract philosophical concepts but real and practical expressions of their lives, and in some cases their deaths.

Wars are always about disagreements. Victories are always about righteousness. I happen to believe an individual's philosophy shapes their identity. Identity guides our actions and builds the world anew everyday. Ideas are what men risk everything for. Ideas are what men fight for. Ideas are what men die for. The will to win is more than admiration for the man next to you in a trench. It must be. Otherwise, an Army of Darkness is morally equivalent to an Army of Light. I respect your observations and admire your admirations for the American soldier. Nevertheless, go out and find men and women who believe they are righteous. Ask them where they find their strength. If it is not for an ideal, they will retreat in the face of a more determined adversary. Never underestimate the power of an idea. Our future as a nation and the lives of American soldiers depends on a thorough understanding of righteousness and the acts individuals commit in pursuit of victory.

In any case, if you served or not... Happy Veterans Day.

[DeWiCar]

Thanks for the comment. I did not intend to downplay the role of philosophy in how it propels the individual to action. What I was specifically thinking of concerns those who would affirm a particular philosophical position without the intent of actually doing anything. In that case the philosophy becomes a mere abstract or academic exercise without fruit.

[humint]

In that case the philosophy becomes a mere abstract or academic exercise without fruit.

I don't understand. Give me an example of philosophical fruit [positive | negative]. Are you judging by what "it" looks like, what "it" did or what "it" has the capacity to do? What metrics matter to you? Do you expect results in [minutes | months | millennia]? And a follow up... Have you ever served in a clear chain of command, risked your life for an idea, written code for a computer or taken a few courses in physics or engineering? If not, what experiences have influenced your philosophy? Inversely, what philosophies have influenced your experiences?

Of course, those are all rhetorical questions. Your answers are specific to you, as my answers to my own questions are specific to me. What's important about them is the insight they reveal. The more I think and read about industry, politics, philosophy and academia; the more I realize how imprecise most professionals, professors, leaders and pundits are. The lions share of any project is helping key people realize what they don't know, and what they don't know they don't know. There is an art to it. When done right, it looks like nothing at all... as if they knew it all along.