Jul. 5, 2007 - The Price of Freedom

The Big Parade happened this morning.  We now have a new Wing Commander.  Things went well, and we all appreciated the breeze that cooled us as we stood in almost 30 degree temperatures (that’s Celsius – the equivalent of about 85 degrees Fahrenheit for any Americans reading this) on the hot pavement in our wool pants, feet double-socked in their boots.  It did blow some music out of the music holder, though.  Two of us lost “The Maple Leaf Forever” which we had to play when we marched the colours off the parade square, but fortunately we were able to retrieve it before we needed it.

In addition to experiencing being on parade for the first time, I learned a couple of things this morning.  First, we have 40 people from our base currently serving in Afghanistan.  I knew we had a group over there, but I did not know how many were from our base.  I also learned that 6 Canadians died in active service in Afghanistan yesterday.  It is always sobering to hear of casualties, and our hearts go out to the families of these men.  It is sad, though, when their memory is used to put forth an idea that is contrary to what these men held dear.  The very reason they were willing to give their lives is trampled in the mud by people who don’t even understand what it is that they are trampling.

Have you ever noticed that those who condemn military action are virtually always those who have little or no connection with the military?  Hollywood personalities, media personnel, and politicians are believed because their faces are recognizable, yet they have little or no knowledge of what the military action is about or what the consequences of pulling out would be.  When we use the deaths of military members in this way we are showing great disrespect to those to whom we owe our lives and our freedom.

In coincidental or providential timing, I received this week a link to a letter to the editor that a friend wrote on this very subject.  She articulated this thought well, so I am going to copy the entire article here in case the link to the newspaper is lost.  If you wish to view Theresa’s blog, you can find her homeschool blogger blog at A Joyful Noise Unto the Lord.

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Last week the Sentinel ran a full-page article describing the effects of the Iraq war on small town America. Included in the article were pictures of fallen soldiers and a mother grieving beside her son’s grave.
As I read the article I thought of other parents, other brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, husbands and wives. People all across America who have lost loved ones, some in armed conflict, some from car accidents, some from buildings collapsing, from airplanes being driven into them.
The war in Iraq certainly has been a long and somewhat complicated one. It is not the first war that has been fought with citizens at home dismayed by the length or progress of the war. Ever since Woodrow Wilson and Isolationism in World War I, America has had to evaluate and re-evaluate the cost of war. When should we involve ourselves in a foreign conflict? How long do we allow a dictator to terrorize a country, or a continent? What would have happened had we let England sink or swim on its own against Hitler? Would Europe now be overrun with Nazism had we kept out of World War II? Would Russia have conquered Germany and much of the free world now be communist?
These questions of course cannot be answered simply. The question today of the cost of the Iraq war on America is not simple either. However, my brother, who as a police officer in Watertown has discussed the issue often with many of the Fort Drum soldiers, has told me that not a single one he has spoken with regrets the cost of the war. Every Fort Drum soldier he has talked to is proud of the job they are doing regardless of the sacrifices they have had to make.
A free society always has a price to pay. The military will always have a loved one left behind at home while they are away fighting to grant the rights and privileges that our country long ago fought to keep. If we truly want the full picture of the cost of war, we must ask questions not only of those families who are grieving the loss of the heroes fighting this war, but those of the citizens of Iraq who exercised the right to vote for the first time. Or maybe ask one of the families whose husband, or mom, or dad fell in the World Trade Center.
My heart goes out to the grieving mothers in the news article last week, but I also disagree with using their grief as a platform to protest the Iraq war.
Let us remember with honor the fallen, and be thankful that we live in a society that allows us peaceful protest, that allows us to voice our opinion, and that doesn’t force our sons to fight in a military system led by a terrorist dictator. God bless America.
— Theresa

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Thanks, Theresa, for wording this so well.  And may I add, God bless Canada. 

Heather

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