#200
Woohoo! My 200th post! And now something completely different:
I've been hearing a lot about Pat Tillman lately. Some people say that he's a hero, others say he was just a dumb jock. In reality he's neither. He was just unlucky. A lot of enlisted men join the service because they love their country and want to fight for it. There's a large belief in the administration. They're following the President. That's their moral ideal. That's supposedly why Mr. Tillman joined.
For Officers, this reason is usually not near the top of the list. It's not for me. Yes I love my country and yes I am willing to fight for it, but really what I'm fighting for are ideas. At its root, America is an idea. A concept. No matter what a passing political figure says, America is about freedom. That's what I'm willing to fight for. In my oath it says "to defend the constitution against all enemies". The constitution is the collection and basis of these ideas. I have not sworn an oath to defend the president or the current political establishment. I swore an oath to fight for our freedom. I fight for intangibles.
That's why Pat Tillman is neither a Hero nor an idiot. Do I feel bad that he died? Yeah I guess. It sucks for him. Especially to be shot by your buddies. But the larger picture here is that he was simply unlucky. Very few men are actually heroes and I strongly object to the current practice of making everyone that dies into one. You shouldn't get anything special just because you were unlucky. Sure he went off to fight for the country because he thought it was the right thing to do (even if I do believe that his faith was put in the wrong place). But he did nothing heroic nor was he simply an idiot. He was simply a man who died. That's tough.
As a side note, I think his death says something about how well trained the so-called "Special Forces" are. Hollywood aside of course.
Enough non-sensical rambling. Now back to packing my seabag. Semper Fi.
I've been hearing a lot about Pat Tillman lately. Some people say that he's a hero, others say he was just a dumb jock. In reality he's neither. He was just unlucky. A lot of enlisted men join the service because they love their country and want to fight for it. There's a large belief in the administration. They're following the President. That's their moral ideal. That's supposedly why Mr. Tillman joined.
For Officers, this reason is usually not near the top of the list. It's not for me. Yes I love my country and yes I am willing to fight for it, but really what I'm fighting for are ideas. At its root, America is an idea. A concept. No matter what a passing political figure says, America is about freedom. That's what I'm willing to fight for. In my oath it says "to defend the constitution against all enemies". The constitution is the collection and basis of these ideas. I have not sworn an oath to defend the president or the current political establishment. I swore an oath to fight for our freedom. I fight for intangibles.
That's why Pat Tillman is neither a Hero nor an idiot. Do I feel bad that he died? Yeah I guess. It sucks for him. Especially to be shot by your buddies. But the larger picture here is that he was simply unlucky. Very few men are actually heroes and I strongly object to the current practice of making everyone that dies into one. You shouldn't get anything special just because you were unlucky. Sure he went off to fight for the country because he thought it was the right thing to do (even if I do believe that his faith was put in the wrong place). But he did nothing heroic nor was he simply an idiot. He was simply a man who died. That's tough.
As a side note, I think his death says something about how well trained the so-called "Special Forces" are. Hollywood aside of course.
Enough non-sensical rambling. Now back to packing my seabag. Semper Fi.
