A Moving Independence Day Tribute

[RBInMaine]

Below is an editorial which I submitted to one of my hometown's newspapers regarding my participation in an anti-war march as part of that busy resort town's recent Independence Day parade. The same group which staged the march also holds weekly anti-war/peace vigils on the town square, in two of which I have also participated. I have also participated in one large protest march in one of our largest cities here in Maine. I understand many such ongoing events are occurring throughout the nation. Even MORE needs to be done to keep the awareness of the reality of this mistaken conflict going. Thanks for reading and I welcome any comments.


July, 2007

As I walked with many others in my Maine hometown’s Independence Day parade with a large group both honoring the names of all U.S. troops lost in the Iraq War and calling for an end to this conflict (we carried banners with the names of every soldier killed in the war), I was extremely moved by the outpouring of support from the large crowds in this busy resort community. But of the many comments I heard as we passed, two stand out. In one instance, a little girl said to her mother, “But mommy, there is no war now.” Her mother replied, “Oh yes there is, in Iraq.” In the other instance a young man opposed to our position called out, “Freedom isn’t free ladies and gentlemen!”
To further inform the young mother who may in turn inform her daughter, as of this writing we have lost more than 3,600 troops since we began the war on March 19th, 2003 including more than 3,400 since the President declared “Mission Accomplished” on May 1st, 2003; more than 3,100 since the capture of Saddam Hussein on December 13, 2003; more than 2,700 since the handover of governmental power to the Iraqis on June 29th, 2004; and more than 2,100 since the Iraqi elections of January 31st, 2005. Over 28,000 troops have been wounded, many very seriously, and by one estimate some 70,000 Iraqi civilians have been killed including an untold number of children. About 450 billion U.S. taxpayer dollars have been spent thus far on this war of choice where it has been proven that there was no imminent threat to us whatsoever from the country we invaded. I would ask this young mother and everyone to consider how much more must we lose in life, limb, and treasure.
To the young man I would say that I agree entirely. Freedom is by no means free. But we have not and can not now pay for our freedom merely by waging military wars, let alone unnecessary wars of choice where those who have the most sacrifice the least. Benjamin Franklin said that we were given this democratic republic, and hopefully we would have the wisdom to keep it. So how have we kept it? We have kept it over time by working to realize its ideals; by getting rid of slavery; by expanding inclusion, tolerance, civil rights, and workers’ rights; by investing in quality education; by partnering with the private sector and investing in our infrastructures to create opportunities and grow the middle class; by investing in science to eradicate disease;
by taking steps to preserve the natural environment; by leading great alliances overseas. And how must we continue to keep it? By continuing these investments in freedom; by dealing seriously with the current crises related to health care and climate change; by again partnering well with innovative private companies to develop the technologies that will get us off foreign oil while creating thousands of new jobs rights that won’t be outsourced to the third world; by continuing to improve education and empowering working people; by securing the homeland in strong but smart ways; and by once again becoming a great, respected leader in the world.
To both of these folks I would finally say yes, there are times when we have had to use justified military responses to confront serious threats to our national security, and we must continue to be prepared to do so. But we also must learn from the past and use military responses only when absolutely necessary. We must demand honesty and the right priorities from our political leaders. We must be also be honest with ourselves, open our eyes, look around, and shake off the apathy. We must realize that there are huge issues and challenges confronting us going forward with tremendous opportunities to move in better directions and accomplish great new things. We have so much work to do. There is so much more to be patriotic about than war.

(RBinMaine is An Educator, Husband, Father and U.S. Army Veteran)