A veteran's view: Readiness, honor, service, love of country

I was younger than many of the students here today when I enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1963. Serving in the Marines seared an indelible mark on my life and set into motion the events which formed me into the man I am today. I am proud to be called a Marine and a veteran, and it is truly an HONOR to be asked by the Whitefish Student Council to speak to you and to my fellow veterans today.

Veterans Day is a day when we pay special respect to all military men and women, active and retired; deceased and living, who have served their country. Who are the veterans? They are men and women who have given of themselves to serve their country, some having made the ultimate sacrifice. Many have seen humanity at its best and at its worst, and some bear the scars to prove it. Veterans are not just your grandfathers but also your brothers and sisters, husbands and wives, fathers and mothers and your sons and daughters. We make up a large part of the country’s population, and over 12 percent of the people living in the state of Montana are veterans.

Today’s veterans both living and deceased, represent the very best of our nation. I stand in AWE of their sacrifices to this great country, a country which has given me so much. I count myself blessed by God and absolutely lucky to have been born in America, and it IS the American veteran who has given me that gift. Veterans are a fraternity of special people. Once you have served your country, you have earned respect from other veterans and all who live in and appreciate this free nation.

What is my personal view on war?

I never met a war that I liked. I pray to God that we never have another one. But wishing for something does not make it so, and it is a mistake to plan our national defense with that wish as the premise of our primary objective. Like most veterans, I believe in peace for our country and I believe in the United States as a beacon of light that represents freedom and liberty to all peoples of the world. I also believe that peace for America in the midst of a violent world can only flourish when we maintain a strong military as a deterrent to attacks.

Anyone can attack the United States — fool and mastermind alike. But, it is the likelihood of swift and stinging retaliation by a competent and well-armed force, no matter where the enemy runs and hides that makes them think twice about carrying through with their evil plans. That is what I mean by “Peace through Strength.”

In November 1963 I was put on Red Alert in the Marine Corps the day President John Kennedy was assassinated. We were locked down thinking there could be a follow-up attack because of the threat we all lived under in those days from the Soviet Union with nuclear warheads pointed at all of our major cities. We were prepared for the worst. The Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis were still very fresh in our memories at the time, and we lived under the real, daily threat of MUTUAL ANNIHILATION in the stand-off of a nuclear Cold War.

Then in 1965, I stood in Marine uniform at the first “Ground Zero” in Hiroshima, just 20 years after the United States delivered the first nuclear attack against Japan that effectively started the end of the Second World War. And later in January 1973, I stood on the USS Arizona Memorial erected on the sunken ship’s bridge in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. That Memorial is a tribute to those 1,177 veterans who died aboard the ship that day and a reminder of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Ironically, as I stood there on the Arizona Memorial and listened to the news that day over the loudspeakers, it was announced that the Vietnam War ceasefire had been signed.

The reprehensible sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 claimed the lives of 2,400 people and was proclaimed by President Roosevelt as “A day which will live in infamy”. But then I watched as nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in another cowardly sneak attack at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania farm field in 2001. Those moments are indelibly etched in my memory as a personal reminder of how much it costs to be strong and to keep our country free.

 Freedom and liberty take constant vigilance. Enemies of our country seem to pop up like rats in the arcade game “Whack-A-Mole.” There is little new under the sun in the military world and just because we’ve been victorious in one place doesn’t mean we won’t have to do it over again. Do these words from the Marine Corps Hymn sound familiar to you…? “FROM THE HALLS OF MONTEZUMA TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI…”? You mean THAT Tripoli, the one in Libya where the U.S. ambassador left his Embassy to visit Benghazi and be murdered? YES, that Tripoli, the same place where just a short 207 years ago, President Thomas Jefferson sent the Marines to march 500 miles from Egypt across the Libyan desert to storm the fortified city of Derna and to liberate our hostages.

Those hostages were being held by radical Muslim pirates who attacked our ships, took our crews hostage to sell them into the Muslim slave trade of North Africa, tore down our embassy and burned our flag during the Barbary Wars. And now… THEY’RE BACK. Veterans know all too well the cost of lethargy and indecisive action in the face of a threat to our nation’s vital interests.

During such times, it is even possible that the veteran will be used as a scapegoat for decisions made by politicians.

Those trying times when veterans are looked down upon are due mainly to the nature and politics of the wars, rather than to the performance or conduct of the individual soldiers. My own return from the Vietnam War was less than friendly or respectful in the middle 1960s. I relied on my fraternity of veterans and my family and friends to welcome me home. Although the war was not my choice, I did my job to the best of my ability. I watched out for my buddies and conducted myself with pride and honor.

The military today and veterans everywhere have struggled to uphold human dignity; to rise above the bitterness of revenge and the regret of thoughtless action in their service to the country. It is not just fear of facing our great fighting force that garners respect for the U.S. in the eyes of the world, but the high standards and honorable conduct of its individual warriors.

For every mistake made by a combat-stressed, over-tired soldier that hits the evening news, there are a thousand good deeds and acts of courage and heroism that go unmentioned. For all the schools and hospitals we have built in ravaged lands, where is the media coverage? For every highway and hospital built, for every clean drinking water system installed and every school rebuilt, where are the talk-show hosts; for every orphaned child held in the strong and compassionate arms of a U.S. Marine, where is “Saturday Night Live”?

The U.S. military of today is not looking for bullies or steely-eyed killers; no wannabe Rambos with a grudge or socially challenged loners who have trouble succeeding in life. They are looking instead for the decent, the competent and the motivated. They want the very best that our country has to offer. The American warriors of today have many pressures on them to maintain our country’s high standards, in addition to the stresses of combat; especially when neither his enemies nor his allies understand ethical conduct, nor play by any rules of engagement or the Geneva Convention. The challenge is great to uphold American ideals in the midst of chaos, but that is exactly what we expect of these outstanding individuals.

 So, how hard would it be to carry on the torch of the American veteran? Membership in this fraternity is simple. You just promise to give up your personal comfort and freedom, to follow orders and to die if need be to protect your country. God bless the USA and our veterans!