Free At Last

August 23rd, 2007 by Steve

Dan at Daily Dixie just posted that he just completed his obligation to the Marine Corps. First of all, congratulations to Dan.  Second, I think we should all thank him for his service to the country.

Here’s an important message from his blog entry:

Until today, I would have accepted a recall and gone anywhere at the President’s discretion. I signed the dotted line, after all. Now that it’s officially over, though… good riddance. When I solemly said this:

I, Daniel Roberts, do affirm 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; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

I never expected that to include invasion and occupation against a country which had not attacked us and which posed no threat to our national security. I don’t want to debate the war in Iraq, but who is the greatest enemy of the Constitution today, foreign or domestic? I didn’t have to go to Iraq. I asked for a deployment (I asked for them all) but was told that the only way I could do so was to extend my military service. It was actually a tough decision. I had decided on one enlistment before I even went in, and although I toyed with thoughts of a career, it just wasn’t for me.

But then I had a dilemma. An Iraq deployment would cost me either a re-enlistment or at least an 18-month extension. And I wasn’t sure I could talk them into an extension. It might be hard to understand how that could be a dilemma. Go to Iraq or become a civilian (and I wanted to become a civilian). Even I now realize that I was being an idiot. But honestly, if I hadn’t already found an apartment and applied for school, I might be in a body bag today. Or an amputee. Or a petrified, unknown soul in a VA hospital. Or maybe a healthy combat veteran fighting a failing war in service to a failed foreign policy for a failed President.

As a veteran myself, those words ring so true they bear repeating.  It’s funny how people who have actually served in the military take their oath of office so much more seriously than the President (or most members of Congress) does.

Perhaps this is a reason why the Libertarian Party is reporting a major surge in active duty military membership, or why GOP presidential candidate Ron Paul is reporting a surge in donations from people currently on active duty.

There are millions of us out there who have proudly accepted the call to serve our country; I spent over a decade doing so. Unlike President Bush, most of my friends in the Army took their oath very seriously.  There’s but one major party presidential candidate I feel would take an oath to support and defend (or preserve, protect and defend) the Constitution with the same sober level of responsibility: Ron Paul.  But that makes perfect sense, as well. Dr. Paul is a veteran, too.

Posted in Ron Paul, Libertarian Movement




4 Responses to “Free At Last”

  1. Eric Dondero wrote on 08/23/07 at 1:25 pm :

    As a Veteran myself, what I would humbly say is that your friend Dan is suffering from a case of the FTNs (Fuck the Navy), or in his case FTAs (Fuck the Army). It inflicts all us Vets at one time or another during our Service and most especially immediately after our discharge.

    I myself went through that phase for 6 months after I got out. “Damn I fucking hated the Navy.” And “I’m so fucking glad to be out.” And all that bullshit.

    I look back at that period of my life with a little shame. And I’m sure Dan will look back at it the same way, after a few months, certainly after a few years go by.

    Do you realize that less than 1% of the American population ever serves in the Military?

    That is an astounding figure. And one that is somewhat shameful, especially when you think of how all these whiners and crybabies who never served a day in their lives in the Military, bitch and complain about the Military and War all the time.

    My sense, particularly for males, is that most of them are just feeling guilty that they never served.

    They’re basically sort of freeloaders in my view, and don’t deserve the same amount of rights as us Veterans.

  2. Dan wrote on 08/23/07 at 4:26 pm :

    If you’re religious, you’ll understand that I believe all natural rights come from our Creator at birth and is not dependent on whether or not you wore a uniform for a particular country.

    I don’t have the FTMs (Marines, not Army. FTNs would have been slightly appropriate). I did when I left active duty for a period of about 4 months, but I just ended my entire contract. The last three years of this contract were spent inactive. Nope, I’m now having a considerate reflection on my service.

  3. Don wrote on 08/23/07 at 4:43 pm :

    If this were an al.com forum rather than being a blog with useful and informative content there would be a selection on its menu to allow other readers to “F6″ Eric Dondero as he should be on more counts than just his potty mouth.

    Steve and Dan, and any other readers who wore the uniform of the USA, including Dondero, as a military retiree I salute you, one and all, for your service to our country.

  4. IConrad wrote on 08/23/07 at 7:05 pm :

    Here’s to hoping he doesn’t get stop-lossed.

TrackBack URI

Leave a Reply

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>

« Older entry Newer entry »