Why am I still in uniform?

I wrote thin in 2006:

A question was recently put to me. I was asked “What keeps you coming to these Reserve weekends?” This gave way to another question, what makes a person put on the uniform of any of the US Armed Forces and do things that could not be conceived as a youth. Some of us are motivated by the pay, others by the benefits, other by the opportunities for advancement, and others by either a sense of duty or as part of a family tradition.

To look at what drives the warrior class in this country, we look at those who came before us:

I look at a sentry shivering in the cold of Valley Forge in the winter of 1777-78, keeping to his duty while others were slipping away back to their homes and farms. He warms his hands over a small fire and thinks about the reasons he is there. Perhaps he was a Massachusetts farmer who answered the call in 1775 as the British moved to arrest the leaders of the young revolt. Maybe he was a Virginia shopkeeper who answered the call when a local farmer, George Washington, was named to lead the embryonic army. Perhaps the publishing of the Declaration of Independence inspired him. Perhaps it was simply the idea of a radical new concept, freedom and the right to live as he wanted, to improve himself, to set off to find a new life for himself and his family. He sees the only way to ensure this is to remain where he is. Putting up with the lack of food, shelter, and other comforts, he knows that there is something better down the road.

I look at Marines, supported by naval forces, slipping into Tripoli harbor to destroy an American ship captured by Barbary pirates in what was the first major foreign challenge to US power.

I look at a rag-tag group of frontiersmen and soldiers facing a professional army that outnumbered them almost three to one. On an area outside of New Orleans, the rag-tag group won. What inspired them to endure waves of attacks and not break and run?

I see a small group of men from all walks of life holed up in a crumbling church, waiting for an attack that would kill them all.

I see waves of soldiers and Marines storming a fortress outside Mexico City, when they could have bypassed it. They also admired the defenders, adding to the mindset that we do not need to kill all of them to win.

I see groups of soldiers in blue waiting behind a wall in Pennsylvania for an attack they could see coming at them.

I see a group of soldiers in gray and butternut marching across a field at those same blue clad soldiers, all the while facing constant artillery fire.

What drives these people to do this? Is it a devotion to an idea, however misguided? Is it a fight to decide what a society decides for themselves? Did a soldier from Virginia really cross that small deadly space just for the right to enslave others? I think not. Did a soldier from Maine really enlisted to only free slaves? Again I think not. I believe that they fought for their idea on how the US should be. The slaves became the moral issue that also had to be fought over. Or in other words, one issue amongst many.

I see a group of soldiers formed from all facets of society storming up a hill in Cuba in order to free a people from being dominated.

I see another group of soldiers landing in France in 1917 to save Europe from Imperial German and Austro-Hungarian domination. These men would spend months in muddy trenches and conduct attacks into machine gun fire in order to bring a bloody war to an end.

I see their sons, nearly thirty years later, manning bombers in broad daylight in the face of enemy fire, falling by the hundreds. They waded onto beaches from Normandy to Iwo Jima, and faced an enemy willing to die for every inch. They holed up in a ruined Belgian city in the dead of winter and met a counter-attack that killed 10,000 of them. They died by the thousands piercing the darkness in Europe and had to resort to atomic weapons to achieve final victory in Asia.

I see a group of people on frozen mountains in Korea, fighting to preserve freedom from attacking Communists.

I see others in the jungles of Vietnam, fighting for freedom while politicians were limiting their operations and others were supporting the enemy.

I see others coming to the rescue in Lebanon, Kuwait, Bosnia, Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and lately Iraq.

I see them hauling supplies and help to people around the world, such as the recent tsunami in South Asia.I see service personnel deployed around the world, living in conditions ranging from barracks to tents.

Eating food consisting of everything from fully cooked meals to Meals-Ready-to-Eat.

Spending anything from 90 days to a year and a half in these locations.

They face car bombs, suicide bombs, mortar attacks, and other methods used by a group that hates the idea of freedom and wants to kill those who want to bring that freedom. They also face derision from a few of their own country people who would rather support the enemy than support freedom.

They also put up with a few that realized what raising their hand and swearing the oath to protect the nation meant and tried to back out. (Personal note: I’m of the opinion that if an individual does not want to fulfill the obligation that the uniform brings, he/she should be made to pay back all the pay, benefits and the cost of training them).

Those of us who put on the uniform are the elite. Not everybody can do this. Not everybody can put up with the long hours, time away from their families, the conditions they can live in, and the fact that not everybody appreciates what they do.

If you want to understand the price that freedom costs, go to a National Cemetery, go to the Vietnam Memorial, go to the cemeteries we have in France and Britain, go talk to a veteran, go to a museum, and finally, go study the history of this country and its struggles for freedom.

One thing however, if you don’t have any experience with the US Armed Forces, there is no way you can understand the price of keeping the USA and our friends free.

Why am I still in an Air Force uniform after 22 years, 12 of them Active, the rest Reserve? Why did I try to stay in, changing my job from Security Forces to Education and Training after I was diagnosed as Type II diabetic, and losing a stripe in the process?

It’s simple. I still believe in the idea of the United States of America. I believe that despite all the struggles and conflicts, we are still the last, best hope for freedom in the world. If we were gone, God help the rest of the world.