Soldiers deserve ‘thanks for sacrifices made’

Consider the example of Pat Tillman. He was a safety on the Arizona Cardinal’s football team. A football star — who in the aftermath of the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C., Sept. 11, 2001 — decided to serve his country against those who plot death to America and Americans. His was an unexpected choice of duty to his country over the affluence and fame that accompanies most professional athletes.

He didn’t seek to attract attention to that decision. When he made the decision to enlist to become an Army Ranger, he declined requests for interviews because he viewed his decision as no more patriotic than that of his less-fortunate, less-renowned countrymen who loved our country enough to volunteer to defend her against grave danger. In this act, he made it known he was one of us … one of our sons was going to war to preserve our freedom against those who would destroy us.

Sadly, we lost Patrick Tillman to combat in Afghanistan in April. Surely, many have made the sacrifice in the name of freedom, but somehow we couldn’t deny the humbling immensity of Pat’s sacrifice. He saw that duty was something bigger than the extraordinary achievements he had already accomplished … and bigger than continuing an NFL career — something that many, but very few, get to pursue.

To this end, for Patrick Tillman, the noble distinction isn’t that he died for what he believed in, but more importantly, for making the choice … and all the risk and sacrifice acting on your beliefs entail.

Consider the example of Patrick Daley, the son of Mayor Richard Daley, of Chicago. He recently graduated with honors from the University of Chicago’s MBA program and could have pursued lucrative job offers. He has decided to enlist at the age of 29 in the Army’s airborne division.

“It’s been in the back of my mind for some time,” said Patrick Daley. “I suppose when you’re 18 years old — as I was at West Point — you’re selfish and I didn’t want to devote 10 years to an uncertain future. It took me a while to learn there’s also a virtue in selflessness.” He attended West Point after he graduated from high school but left 14 months later. “The values of West Point are still with [him],” though, and now that he’s older, he’s better equipped to understand selflessness and virtue,” said father, Mayor Richard Daley.

So what turned him around?

“I suppose you could say that one defining moment was Sept. 11 and the nightmare at the World Trade Center. I had flown into New York the night before because I had worked there for Bear Stearns. But I was frustrated, I didn’t know how I could help. I didn’t know what I could do, so I gave blood and volunteered at a hospital.”

We wish him Godspeed in his call to duty and pray for his safe homecoming if he finds himself at the front lines of the war on terrorism.

To both these Patricks, I salute you. The both of you have my eternal thanks for the sacrifices you have made and will make in the days to come.

I have to contrast this with a bill introduced reinstituting the draft by Representative Charles Rangel in 2003. He continued to push for its passage in the election year of 2004. Even after the Department of Defense stated there was no need to reinstate the draft, he continued to press the issue.

His rationale?

“I truly believe those who make the decision and those who support the United States going into war would feel more readily the pain that’s involved, the sacrifice that’s involved, if they thought that the fighting force would include the affluent and those who historically have avoided this great responsibility,” Rangel said.

“Those who love this country have a patriotic obligation to defend this country,” Rangel said. “For those who say the poor fight better, I say give the rich a chance.”

Huh?

From what I can see from this vantage point, not only are the common folk making this sacrifice for freedom, apparently so have the privileged sons of American culture who have heard the clarion call of duty as well.

God bless America … God bless us one and all.

Robert Goodman

Long Branch