Today is a day of remembrance and honor. Honor is something that U.S. military men and women are taught from the outset of their training. Without honor there is no cohesion as a unit, no respect for authority and no purpose for serving. Soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen and coasties who do not embrace this fundamental aspect of military service are considered misfits and a burden on those soldiers who must carry their weight.
Without honor, military members cannot endure multiple deployments in overseas areas with the required motivation. With this sense of honor and duty however, they excel and are promoted more quickly than those who are just biding their time and waiting for that "freedom bird" and that coveted twenty year letter.
It is blaringly obvious that those in society who skirt service of country hold a different set of principles. Instead of honor there is self-promotion. Instead of the love of country and freedom there is only the use of others and the greedy attitude of a taker instead of a server. Those young people who choose not to serve their country often look for ways to sign up on the public dole in some form or fashion. That attitude can even come from the top.
When our representatives travel abroad to apologize for the United States, calling governments such as Indonesia a great nation, a government, which oppresses freedom of speech and religion, it is a thumb in the eye of every service member standing watch at his or her post, eating dust and enduring hardships that people at home in their comfy rockers, watching football and eating turkey never dream of.
Our military derseves the highest honor. Today at least, we should give it to them.
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