“However, if Americans want to thank veterans, then show respect for them, or our flag, president, and ultimately our country by the simple patriotic gesture of standing for our anthem and salute to the flag.”
By Joe Boatwright; OpsLens:
I, like much of America, was sickened by the despicable display of the NFL players, et al taking a knee, regardless of the reason and the continued display of ‘solidarity’ of other players, coaches, and even owners showing additional disregard and disrespect to our flag, country and president. But the reaction by liberal ‘loonies’ that include the mainstream media, academics, millennials, Hollywood, etc. versus the patriotic conservative right to include the military, first responders, and even the president has been on the news non-stop 24/7 since they started after a hiatus from original culprit Kaepernick. I didn’t think that I had anything unique to contribute till I heard something from one of the members of the Green Bay Packers.
He requested that the fans stand and lock arms to show their support. It has not worked. This cowardly move demonstrated the desperation by the players caused by diminished fan support and revenues. But much of this has been reported already. What galvanized me to write was his comment that he knew the military supports them, because we fought and sacrificed to give them this right. Having been an officer in both the Army and Navy, I have the experience and more legitimate perspective to explain why service members sacrificed so much.
Military service is difficult on so many levels. It challenges marriages, it lessens the chance for a long healthy life. Many of our duties almost guarantee some form of bodily or mental harm. We work where the potential to contract diseases is certain without various inoculations. Of course, don’t forget about the obvious dangers in war and/or war zones. For example, I got cancer. The cause of which is believed to have been caused by the constant illnesses I had from all the field duty.
While I was going thru my treatment for stage 4 cancer at Walter Reed, almost every day I witnessed the constant parade of soldiers with missing limbs caused by Improvised Explosive Devices (IED’s). These are just some of the more egregious consequences of service. The dangerous schools/training combined with strenuous and stressful working hours during peacetime can be as debilitating as combat duty itself.
Military service is difficult on so many levels. It challenges marriages, it lessens the chance for a long healthy life.
I won’t belabor the point, but during my time as a Combat Arms company commander I had 3 people die during peacetime. In the 4 years that that I was either a platoon leader, executive officer, and company commander I had a work schedule where I was in the field about half the time which meant we worked 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
When we were back on our tactical site in a remote area in Germany my work schedule for at least 2 weeks of the month would be working from early morning till the next afternoon, and then start again the next day. We would get several hours of sleep the first day as we did training or had war time evaluations. Our informal/unofficial slogan was “we eat our young.” Again, all other combat arms branches and the military services, obviously to include the Marines, have similar hardships.
In addition, many military personnel make sacrifices even before they enter. Families are split up when service members go on unaccompanied locations. Children must attend different schools. In my case, I sacrificed several times for my own distinct reasons being an officer in two services. I gave up lucrative careers because I continued to want to serve my country in the military.
Pat Tillman was probably the most famous case of someone giving up obvious riches for something more important: service to his country. And all the services require us to take the same oaths for our service. We promise to fight against all enemies of the U.S., both foreign and domestic. We obey the orders of the officers appointed above us and we respect our country’s symbols and the authority of the president. Even a five-star general (McArthur) can be removed for disrespect to the president. Ironically, even though he was removed for that reason, his last speech to West Point was entitled,” Duty, Honor, Country.”
Pat Tillman was probably the most famous case of someone giving up obvious riches for something more important: service to his country.
We all go into the military for our own specific reasons. However, at the core of our ideals are some common goals dictated by military service; we are to protect the constitution, bill of rights, our flag, our congress and in addition, of course, we honor and obey our president. Quoting Joe Barton on the essence of our service and sacrifice, he said “Our flag honors those who have fought to protect it, and is a reminder of the sacrifice of our nation’s founders and heroes. As the ultimate icon of America’s storied history, the Stars and Stripes represents the very best of this nation.”
Even if I wasn’t a retired military officer, but as a loyal American I would never dishonor our cherished American symbols, our president, or to disrespect the ultimate sacrifices that our men and women in the military have made.
This individual that tried to speak for the military has no idea what we stand for, how to honor our flag, our country, or our president. And no, I did not provide my service and risk my life for those that spit on the flag, or burn it, or attack the president. Ironically, in my two overseas tours we were not able to watch any NFL games. We only had AFN (Armed Forces Network) to see sporting events, but where we were located we couldn’t get the signal.
In Latin America we had no American television. As a result, for almost seven years I saw almost no sporting events and I did not miss a minute of it. However, we did have base theaters that showed American movies, and before every movie we stood for the National Anthem to honor our country. While I don’t miss seeing sporting events, I do miss standing for the National Anthem and honoring our flag and country in theaters.
I appreciate that after 9/11 most respect the military by saying, “Thank you for your service.” However, it is not necessary. While attending the Brazilian Staff College, they held a big celebration for the 4th of July, and honored our country better than some sports players have. They were in constant awe of what a great democracy and country that we are. I’m glad for the sacrifice for what I gave up getting into the military and for the sacrifice while I was in.
Honoring my country, and all aspects around it are worth any sacrifice to include the possibility of losing my life. Everyone that I served with felt the same way. My three honorable discharges are more than thanks enough for me. However, if Americans want to thank veterans, then show respect for them, or our flag, president, and ultimately our country by the simple patriotic gesture of standing for our anthem and salute to the flag. If you don’t want to and would rather honor another country, then please feel free to move there. I’m sure the overwhelming majority of veterans will feel as I; we won’t mind if you do.
Those who during the Viet Nam war, burnt flags and spit on our service members, obviously had little respect for this country. Jane Fonda was a poster child for that generation. I don’t expect her or her ilk to stand for the flag or anthem, either. But I don’t expect her to say we gave our service, sacrifices, and our lives so that she can disrespect us or be a traitor.
We serve to protect this nation and its people from enemies, “both foreign and domestic.” To see fellow Americans disrespect everything we served to preserve, with these misguided antics, is both demoralizing and infuriating!
Joe Boatwright is an OpsLens Contributor and a retired Military Intelligence officer with experience as a senior analyst throughout the intelligence community, to include the CIA, DIA, the State Department, National Counterterrorism Center, Defense Threat Reduction Agency and National Reconnaissance Office.
