Sacrifice
Remarks by John Morgan, RHS Class of 1966
Memorial Day Observance on May 26, 2008 at Clinton-Garfield Cemetery
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Sacrifice! How often have we used or heard
that word? Webster says a sacrifice is the surrender of something for
the sake of something else of lesser value but what does that actually
mean?
Is it a sacrifice when a parent gives up a degree of freedom to raise a
child? Yes, BUT…..
Is it a sacrifice for a young person to attend post-secondary training?
Yes, BUT….
Is it a sacrifice to run for public office? Yes, BUT…..
Each of these situations demands a sacrifice BUT there is an anticipated
larger reward for those making the sacrifice. So, were they actually
sacrifices?
When we examine the motives behind many of the actions we call
sacrifices it quickly becomes apparent that the person making the
sacrifice often receives a reward they consider equal or greater to the
original sacrifice in value. Parental sacrifices reap relationships with
adult children, the elected official is able to move legislation that
she/he feels make the world a better place, and the student's efforts at
expanding their skills results in a higher income. Each made sacrifices
but earned a valuable reward in the process.
On this Memorial Day I would like to speak of and honor the sacrifices
our military personnel have made in the past and are making today. Too
often we fail to remember those that have sacrificed for us. Let us
examine a few.
How many of you are RA? How about US? Don't know what I am talking
about? Than you are most likely not an army veteran or have been in the
military since the cessation of the draft. RA stands for "regular army"
and meant that you enlisted. US stood for those that were drafted into
the army. I haven't asked my fellow veterans in the other branches if
they also had a designator to differentiate a volunteer and a draftee
but I would imagine there was some indicator to separate the two.
If a soldier was RA or joined voluntarily he or she had some motive for
signing on the dotted line. Possibly patriotism, maybe to earn money for
an education, to carry on a family tradition, or to learn skills. The
reasons can go on and on. If you were drafted it was because your
"friends and neighbors" thought you would be the best candidate to
defend the country. No matter what their enlistment status, each was
required to begin making sacrifices for the rest of us. Like the unique
individuals they were and are, their sacrifices were equally unique.
Many words have been written about soldiers and their experiences but
how often have we examined what they gave up so that we could enjoy the
freedoms of daily life in the United States?
Try to imagine you have just opened the mail and in it is an invitation
to join the United States military. This is your first sacrifice. You
have now become a member of a small percentage of American citizens that
will be asked to defend your country while the greater number continue
their lives without interruption. Your first sacrifice is time out of
your life. In the coming months of training you will be homesick,
loneliness will stalk you at times, and stress will be your constant
companion. Stress from being yelled at, stress from the long hours,
stress from the mental and physical demands, stress from learning new
and strange skills, stress from developing new friends, stress from
looking into the unknown and wondering, stress from encountering new
values and cultures, stress, stress, stress. But you may say; I went to
college or moved to a new city and those were also part of my life.
Correct, except for one major difference. You could walk away from the
situation if you chose. The soldier can not. They are "captives."
A significant sacrifice the soldier makes is that her or his civilian
career is on hold while they are on active duty while their non-military
counterparts continue to move forward. This is possibly one of the least
apparent sacrifices made by the soldier. Upon returning from their time
in the military they re-enter civilian employment years behind in
experience. Those first few years in a career field are critical. When
competing with others experience can often make you the most attractive
candidate in the job market. Often we hear platitudes spouted about the
"military experience" but it translates into fewer job offers. By
examining unemployment data we begin to see the handicap that military
service creates for many. This hidden sacrifice is little talked about.
How many of you have missed a graduation, a birth, a first step, or a
funeral? All of us. BUT would you consider it a sacrifice to miss all of
those milestones for two years? How about for the duration? Military
personnel make huge sacrifices when it comes to family life. Can you put
a value on those events? Can you compensate for those events? I think
not! The solder, in many circumstances, is divorced from his or her
family for extended periods of time and can never retrieve those
occurrences. Internet connections, video cameras, camera phones, cell
phones, and the host of communications devices available today can not
replace being there. Military families have a higher incidence family
strife. Is this a sacrifice we are demanding from those that serve?
The last sacrifice I would like to talk about is pain. We've all
experienced pain in physical and emotional ways but the pain of war is a
uniquely special. It is a pain that should not exist. It is a pain that
reflects on humanities inability or unwillingness to interact between
ourselves in an understanding and civilized manner. It is a sacrifice
that many soldiers are forced to make but fortunately not all.
Who can describe the emotional sacrifice a soldier carries within
himself of the images of a friend dying? How would you describe the
sacrifice of seeing your buddy in physical or emotional pain for minutes
or years? How do we measure the sacrifice of they that daily deal with
these negative memories? This is a hurt, a sacrifice that is difficult
for them and many times their families to deal with for years beyond the
termination of their military life. Mental wounds are possibly the
greatest sacrifice that any soldier can make. Death is final but
memories live with us each day. The self loathing and fear can often
grow resulting in high suicide rates, family difficulties, and emotional
disorders we are just coming to understand.
Physical wounds are the badge that most think of when talking about a
sacrifice. The Purple Heart is not given for any reason other than being
wounded in action but the severity of the wound can range for minor to
death. Today we have begun to recognize that many wounds are invisible
and fester for years if not decades. The realization that physical harm
is done to the brain due to repeated exposure to blasts is just now
being researched. How many sacrificed without knowing it in the wars and
conflicts of the past. Current data from the Iraq-Afghanistan War
suggest that 20-percent of returning veterans suffer from Post Traumatic
Stress Syndrome. How many soldiers in the past wondered "what is wrong
with me?" How many were looked upon with disgust because of their
actions. We are just beginning to comprehend the sacrifices these
soldiers in the present and the past made? They had no wound …. That we
could see. It was invisible but just as devastating to them. How do we
recognize and compensate for their sacrifice?
The "final sacrifice" is often used to identify someone that has been
killed in action. It is glorified in film but little understood. None of
us has spoken with a dead soldier. None of us knows what went through
his or her mind during those final moments. None of us could measure the
physical anguish nor know the sacrifice they made. BUT, all of us do
recognize that it has been made.
Sacrifice! How much have they sacrificed for us? We'll never know in
this life but we Need! …. we MUST! honor their sacrifices! Without their
willingness to miss those family events, to stand in fear, to live daily
in mental pain, and to risk death the life we hold dear would have
evaporated into a cloud of despotism long ago. We owe them our freedom.
We owe them the life that most of us take for granted. Harry Truman had
a good grasp of how the soldier felt: "I think I know the American
Soldier….. He does not want gratitude or sympathy. He had a job to do.
He did not like it. But he did it." Each of us owes them for the life we
enjoy today. Let us give them the honor and respect they gave us through
their sacrifices. |
