Find the Cost Of Freedom…

Find the cost of Freedom, Buried in the ground (Crosby, Stills & Nash)

I’m sorry it’s taken so long to post this. It took quite a while to gain control of my emotions earlier, and I had to stop at times while writing. I wish I had the gifts of a Shakespeare to convey what I’d like to say having watched the three American soldiers killed in that recent drone attack arrive back in the United States. Well, I don’t. That doesn’t mean I won’t say some things I believe need to be said.

Since the withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 we have lost American troops. However, the death of three soldiers due to a drone strike on the base where they were stationed in Jordan are the first ones due to hostile enemy fire. As the AP reported this afternoon today they arrived back home in the U.S.  With the family’s permission cameras were allowed to film their homecoming and broadcast shortly afterwards:

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (AP) — President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden joined grieving families at Dover Air Force Base on a gray, chilly Friday to honor the three American service members killed in a drone attack in Jordan.

The Bidens met privately with the families before the roughly 15-minute solemn ritual, called a dignified transfer, that has become relatively uncommon in recent years as the U.S. has withdrawn from conflicts abroad.

Upon learning that the ceremony known as Dignified Transfer would be shown on TV I made sure to watch. I tuned in MSNBC and while regular daytime host Chris Jansing isn’t someone I normally admire (neutral about her) today she shined bright. Sitting with a Medal of Honor recipient (Vietnam era) who explained a few things before and after, as the scene unfolded she kept her mouth shut. Between a shortened clip prior to the full ceremony it was explained nothing was wrong with people’s TVs. No sound problem. It’s a matter of the various folks on hand not giving speeches, or any band playing (not even taps) but the simplest possible ceremony of transferring those flag draped steel transfer coffins from the aircraft to the van that will take the troops to the Mortuary there on the base at Dover. There the bodies of the fallen will be prepared for transport home for burial. In this case all three to Georgia.

Silent. Solemn. Simple and dignified. Just like it should be. You know what else should be? Every U.S. Citizen being required to watch. Our country has never been perfect from even before we became our own country. But even with setbacks along the way we have in fits & starts made progress (too slowly) towards the “more perfect union” envisioned in the preamble of our Constitution. It’s come at a terrible cost. In (financial) treasure, but also in service and sacrifice. Blood. Even lives. And I should note not all that service and sacrifice has come from those who’ve served in the armed forces. I should also note not all the wounds have been physical.

Striking about the TV coverage I saw was a talking head (civilian) that for once didn’t talk.

Silence truly is golden sometimes and moments like these are worthy of golden treatment. After the ceremony a shaken Jansing spoke in a halting voice about these fallen soldiers, doing her best to make viewers understand those who provide our freedoms are regular people providing an extraordinary service to their country. Her guest made an important and too often ignored point that needs to be spread far and wide. Most Americans don’t personally know someone in the service.

He pointed out that in WWII something like 19-20 million Americans served. (More would have but one of the impacts of the Great Depression is that a quarter of those who volunteered or were drafted were rejected during their physicals) Given the population was only what, a hundred thirty million damned near everyone had a close family member serving. And so many of those not in uniform were working in factories to provide the equipment and supplies needed. Hell, people including KIDS went around gathering scrap metal, glass, and other items that could be recycled into things the troops needed.

The whole country was in it together. That would change. Now, the burden is borne by only one percent of Americans. And if you look hard at all those years after 9/11 it was common for people to be deployed to combat zones a half dozen or more times, Sometimes a lot more than that. Is it any wonder that recruiting fell off and the services are having trouble meeting goals?

Still, the fact is we have allies and interests to protect around the world. And enemies. That means we need people willing to stand into harm’s way. The three soldiers brought home today weren’t in “combat arms.” They were part of a National Guard engineering battalion. Without logistics/support the “front line” people can’t fight. However, as we see a person doesn’t have to be anywhere close to within ranges of a rifle or even shoulder fired rocket to be in danger. To be killed.

In this article by the Associated Press that recounts the arrival of our soldiers home there is a brief description of each of them. If you’re reading this, I beg you to at least decide they are worthy of a few minutes of your time to read about their journey home, and bit about them and their lives. We owe them and others that much at least. We owe them far, far more but while I know it’s Friday night and maybe you’re looking forward to terrific plans this weekend think about this. If not for people like these three soldiers, and countless people before them who sacrificed so much, in so many millions of cases their very lives would your terrific plans be taking place?

I’ve said before the rise of Trump and MAGA has turned this into a country not worthy of all that sacrifice. My own service was typical as it is for most people. But for some the sacrifice, and the price they pay for our freedom is staggering.  Yes, we rightly bitch and complain about how much better things could and should be. But if not for all those who gave all we wouldn’t even have that right. What we do have, even if far from the “more perfect union” is still something amazing for all its faults.

However, it’s come at a terrible price. One I once believed was worth it. Beirut was raging when I went into the Marines and volunteered for infantry. As I said, countless millions have served both in uniform and other ways, stood into danger and given all. That my friends is the cost of freedom. Blood and lives.

Lives that now include Sgt. William Jerome Rivers of Carrollton, Sgt. Kennedy Sanders of Waycross and Sgt. Breonna Moffett of Savannah. To them and their loved ones, there are those of us who honor you. And will try to make your sacrifice in that troubled part of the world one day matter. By pushing our leaders to somehow find a just and lasting peace.

You have given all. It’s now up to others to carry on but we will honor and remember you. From this ole Jarhead, I say you earned a heartfelt Semper Fidelis.