In America, Soldiers Don’t Get to Decide

On this Fourth of July, it’s natural to think about, and pray for, the soldiers who fight for our country all around the world.

The United States is a country founded on ideas. Courageous Americans have always put themselves in harm’s way so that this country can exist.

But the ideas behind America also transformed the relationship between a nation and its military. For thousands of years, fighters went out in search of treasure, or profit; many fought with the idea that they’d gain land or other property, and attain greater power in their own country when they returned.

Then, along comes the Declaration of Independence, and the Revolutionary War. The Declaration says, “all men are created equal.” Which not only punctures the Divine Right of Kings idea, it also means that our rights are not apportioned according to our military service. You fight to defend this country, not to rule it.

The greatest irony might be that, here you are, in 1776, going to war on behalf of a new breakthrough in freedom in the history of the world, but first, by joining the military, you are offering to relinquish the great blessing promised by that Declaration: your life, your liberty, and your pursuit of happiness.

Because war brings the tragedies of injury and death, we spend little time thinking about the other two promises—liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
But a soldier has no freedom. A soldier doesn’t even get to decide where or why we fight. And a soldier has one pursuit—the success of the mission.

America’s fighting men and women pioneered this idea—namely, that they will do battle, face the enemy, do what must be done, and then, when they return, they will return and again become, not the Baron or Dutchess of the new region they’ve conquered, not a member of the elite voting bloc that decides the country’s future, but as just another U.S. citizen.

Which makes their sacrifice even more admirable and remarkable.