Americans

Airman's Creed

I am a Warrior.  I have answered my Nation’s call.  I am an American Airman.  My mission is to Fly, Fight, and Win.  I am faithful to a Proud Heritage, A Tradition of Honor, And a Legacy of Valor.  I am an American Airman.  Guardian of Freedom and Justice,  My Nation’s Sword and Shield, It's Sentry and Avenger.  I defend my Country with my Life.  I am an American Airman.  Wingman, Leader, Warrior.  I will never leave an Airman behind, I will never falter, And I will not fail.

-- (Read more of the Creeds of the U.S. Military)

What makes a soldier a hero?  What sets one military person apart from another? For that matter, what makes a hero, a hero, especially to a military culture, a family of comrades expecting no less than the ultimate sacrifice when your name is called to step up?  When you are weighed and measured, will you be found wanting?  We can easily change an anonymous statement, What is a Veteran, to help us define a hero:

A Hero, whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve, is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "up to, and including their life."  That is honor; there are too many people that don't get that.

A hero signs on the dotted line.  What our heroes do in battle will weigh and measure them; a few might be found wanting, but they did, at least, step up to be counted.  For most, the baptism of combat will define the hero they have already proved themselves to be; proved by volunteering to sacrifice their lives to protect those of us that can't, or won't.  

The majority of us sit on our fat, lazy, asses waiting for the heroes to be announced in the thankless liberal media, to come home, or to be buried, yet our heroes are announced to us every time we see someone in a uniform representing service to our community, and country.  We have to announce our heroes because they will not announce themselves.  They will not acknowledge what they do, will do, or have done, as heroic.  They are the humble best of what we all are supposed to represent.

If we want to define the opposite of a hero one only has to look to their detractors.  Yes, our heroic men and women even fight for the lives of those perpetually thankless who dare berate them for following orders unto death.  Shame on the cowards of this country for enjoying the fruits of sacrifice they, themselves, refuse to earn voluntarily.  I say voluntarily to head off the thankless who would use paying taxes as their out.

A hero fights to protect the innocent. A hero fights to protect friends, family, and country.  They fight for a piece of cloth bearing thirteen stripes and fifty stars because it is a representation of everything they hold dear in life.  They fight for values and freedoms many in our country take for granted, never learned, haven't earned, and will not even understand until those freedoms are lost.  Although they fight with little, if any, expectation of gratitude as this country has been gratitude poor since the Vietnam police action, this thankless trend seems to be lessening of late. 

I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.

-- United States Uniformed Services Oath of Office

"So help me God."  This statement used to mean something.  It didn't really matter which God, when it came right down to it we all seemed to be on the same path.  It was simply a way of putting impetus behind our honest promise to do our duty for our fellow citizens.  We were swearing that we would not cut and run during battle, or walk away from our guard post one evening, upon penalty  of being shot as a coward or a traitor.  Now, it seems we don't require God any more, like we don't require there be winners, only participants.  We now live in a country where mediocrity is the name of the game and trading the enemy combatants for the return of our traitors may become common place.  It is a country where we can no longer turn boys into men for fear of winding up in court because we offended their delicate sensibilities.  So help me God?

God help us.

We swear to defend a Constitution which the majority of liberals in this country, both citizens and leadership, would like to see shredded... along with God.  Yet, the leadership took this very same oath of allegiance, and did so without purpose of evasion.  Basically, they lied.  No surprise there, right?  Are we to judge them as traitors?  Unless we plan on reliving the French Revolution here in America, by rolling a Guillotine up to the steps of the U.S. Capitol, I'm afraid their treason will be for history to determine.

Freedom is not a gift.  Freedom is something earned through sacrifice.  Countries that are simply handed their freedom, like Russia, have no ownership of it, no respect for it, and they will slowly lose that which wasn't earned.  I once told my son, not so very long ago, I wished for his generation, and into the next, an invasion of this great country, from within or without, that will deprive them of all the freedoms they take for granted, for it is only in the absence of freedom that the tree of liberty will be refreshed.  That invasion seems to be upon us as the enemy is not only at the gate from without, another enemy is in charge of guarding it from within.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

-- Thomas Jefferson

We are all Americans.  I feel the majority of us have forgotten what this means.  I grew up in a household demanding patriotism, where freedom was our hard fought for right and patriotism was our duty as payment.  I am American by birth and Southern by the grace of God.  God bless the heroes of this great nation, and God bless the Constitution of the United States of America.

Ooh-rah!

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so.

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years as a military intelligence analyst, planner, and briefer, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we do afterward, and what we learn from the experience.

Frank Anthony Villari (aka, Pastor Tony)

Pastor Tony is founder of the Congregation for Religious Tolerance and author/editor of the Congregation's official blog site, "The Path."