FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM—WHEN AND WHEN NOT?

By Edwin Cooney

Today marks the sixty-seventh anniversary of D-Day, June 6^th, 1944. On that day, the most powerful elements of the world’s "good people" attacked the fortress of the most powerful elements of the world’s "bad people." The day of the Normandy Invasion was truly part of a four year fight for freedom. The most significant instrument of the success of that undertaking was Dwight David (Ike) Eisenhower’s “regular soldier.” Ike’s regular soldier wasn’t a graduate of West Point or Annapolis. He was usually a shopkeeper, a mechanic, a teacher or even a preacher. War wasn’t his profession; it was only a temporary obsession.

At least twice a year, on Memorial and Veteran’s Days, Americans are practically commanded by veteran’s groups (which invariably include the President and some high-powered influential military bigwigs) to celebrate the fallen soldier who gave his life for our freedom.

It can be argued, however, that our freedom has really only been at stake twice in the past 236 years. Even at that, the Revolutionary War, which gave us our freedom, almost didn’t happen.

The shot from Concord or Lexington that was heard around the world was fired sometime around midnight on Wednesday, April 19, 1775. That shot was in response to Massachusetts Colonial Governor Thomas Gage’s determination to capture arms that were being protected by Sam Adams and John Hancock somewhere near Concord. A day or two later, a proposal from the King’s Prime Minister, Lord North, reached the colonies. It offered to negotiate a fair tax policy, separately, with each one of the thirteen colonial legislatures. Sadly, for the fate of 25,000 Americans, the Parliament’s practical temperance was no match for Governor Gage’s aggression and the colonists' war fever would intensify.

No historian would assert that the War of 1812 (which also almost didn’t happen but did due to the late arrival of a British concession), the Mexican, the Civil War, the Spanish American war or even World War I was fought for the sake of liberty. (As for the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, those brave Texans were fighting in part for their freedom to keep black men in chains which was forbidden by the Mexican government and the moral principles of the Roman Catholic Church.)

World War II, the most necessary war since we gained our independence, had its antecedent in World War I, which was really a family feud between Queen Victoria’s grandchildren. After all, did America’s freedom really depend on whether Britain’s George V or Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II won “the war to end all wars?” The defeated Kaiser didn’t even go to jail for his aggression. He lost his throne (which had to be pretty galling), but his exile in Holland wasn’t a physical hardship even if it was something of a social come down.

Of course, we’re told that each war has lessons. How relevant are those lessons toward the prevention of future wars? Didn’t our greed for “manifest destiny,” the force behind the Mexican War, ultimately guarantee the Civil War? Did the 2,446 American soldiers who died during the short Spanish-American War die for our freedom or for the expansion of our foreign market?

The Minuteman of the Revolutionary War was a volunteer, as were many who fought the War of 1812, the Mexican, the Civil and the Spanish-American wars. However, by the time World War I (the war which was to make the world "safe for democracy") came along, the government was drafting men under penalty of law should they choose to resist. Hence, the valiant heroes of America’s most legitimate war were largely drafted. Their individual freedom was at stake if they refused to fight for our freedom.

Along with the United Nations, the threat of Soviet Communism, and atomic death, the gifts of World War II included a lesson -- a real gem -- supposedly applicable for all time to come: “never appease a dictator." Hence, peace through strength is the key to real world peace. So, we sacrificed some 58,000 American soldiers fighting Ho Chi Minh --who was not only a dictator, but a Communist dictator. Was that war ultimately for our national security or for our international prestige?

As I see it, men and women become soldiers because their political leaders have failed to protect them. It’s that simple. We’re most fortunate that Ike’s “regular soldier” did indeed love his country! He only became a soldier because two generations of American and other international leaders let him down.

So, let’s remember our wounded and our fallen, not for the soldiers they were required to become, but for the truly great and generous neighbors God originally intended them to be.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY