It is the Soldier Poem
This is pasted from Babalu, which I found after Dave Price cited it in this post.
IT IS THE SOLDIERIt is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.(? Charles M. Province)
UPDATE: I received this in an email and it raises some important points about the poem:
For some reason this poem strikes me the wrong way.
Although I strongly sympathize with what the author is
trying to convey (proper respect due to our military),
it is a disservice to suggest that the rights
enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the
Bill of Rights, both civil documents, were somehow
“given” to us by the military. They are, in fact,
among the unalienable rights either endowed to
humanity by a “creator” (if you are so inclined) or by
the simple fact that we exist as humans. The military
protects these freedoms under the direction of a
legitimately constituted government, to be sure, but
it does not grant them. Perhaps this is a subtle or
semantic difference, but an important one.Indeed, a critical aspect of our presence in Iraq and
Afghanistan is to promote the concept of “good
governance” and the notion that it is legitimate
government structures (both civil and military) which
are the sources of the common good.
One of the beauties in our system is that the military is controlled by elected civilian leadership – another example of the rock/paper/scissors balancing act that the Founding Fathers built into the system. The writer’s last point is especially worth noting. Iraq will be all the more successful if it maintains civilian control over the military. Having it ruled by another dictator, even one who supports our policies in the region, would tarnish our efforts there.
It Is The Soldier — Dean’s World:
[...] Thanks to Scott for the updated version of the poem. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking [...]
23 April 2008, 12:32 pmAlex:
Support The Troops Slogan
“They are fighting to protect our rights and freedoms”-
Not trying to take a swipe at the troops- just wanting to cut through some of the enchantment that seems to accompany military operations.
We hear many good things about the generation who fought WWII. People lied about their age to serve. There was a draft. Women went in, along with movie stars, entertainers, and sports celebrities- the whole country understood and was involved in the war effort. School kids participated. Most people probably had a family member who served or at least knew people who did.
Much has changed since then.
Today, most people do not serve and we are most comfortable with an “All Volunteer” military. Saying the troops are fighting to protect our rights and freedoms may be an attempt to justify US foreign policy in some way.
Are our rights and freedoms really linked to anything that is- or is not- happening overseas?
No. The Military Industrial Complex protects our physical security- much the same as the local Sheriffs’ Department or the State Police.
It failed on 911.
We have 3 branches of government- each with limited powers- to watch over and maintain our rights and freedoms- which are guaranteed by the constitution.
The day women or 18 year olds got the right to vote, prohibition was ended, blacks were first able to marry whites, Miranda rights were instituted, etc. – It was not because we were kicking ass somewhere overseas.
The troops provide us with National Security.
If we say the victims of 911 were citizens who lost their rights and freedoms, can we say the same of the victims of the Oklahoma City bombing?
If Oklahoma City had been prevented, who would we credit? Various law enforcement agencies? The troops?
If a house is prevented from burning, is it because firefighters protect our rights and freedoms?
If the troops protect our rights and freedoms- did the troops fail on 911?
Should the Support the Troops Slogan be used to justify US foreign policy?
If we want our concealed carry permit honored on National Park’s lands, should we tell the Joint Chiefs of Staff?
27 April 2008, 9:44 pmdetroitVB:
Scott,
28 April 2008, 12:05 amI’ve read a number of your posts on Dean’s world. I can’t say I agree with the atheism, but I do enjoy your clear and cogent responses to many obnoxious posts. After reading your posts I often say to myself – “like Scott”, but that would be a superflous post and really just gunk up the comments section. May there be many more like you…
Scott Kirwin:
DetroitVB
Atheism is an artificial term; it doesn’t feel natural or human to me. I’ve used it a lot over the past few years; in retrospect I think I may have overused it. My beliefs regarding God are like jelly; they are hard to fit into a preexisting mold and change over time. I may have to back off and use the term “agnostic” – but I almost dislike that term as much as atheism.
Alex
I’ve reread your post several times and I’m not sure what your point is. A nation has internal threats as well as external ones. In some cases the nature of these threats are the same (as with Islamofascists setting up sleeper cells inside the USA while attacking Americans abroad), and other times they aren’t (white supremacist groups planning attacks like the Oklahoma City bombing).
As for World War 2, there was strong isolationist sentiment all the way up until the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Keep in mind that at that point the war had been raging in Europe for 2 1/4 years. Even after Pearl Harbor isolationist sentiment didn’t completely evaporate. In fact I’ve written elsewhere that Isolationism is America’s natural state. The past 60 years have been unique in our history as they have been characterized by an active internationalist foreign policy.
But the native isolationism hasn’t gone away. Look at the immigration debate that cuts across party lines, as well as the anti-trade sentiment being stoked by the Democrats on the left, and you’ll see that isolationism is alive and well.
But is isolationism the right path at this point in our history? That’s the question.
28 April 2008, 8:33 amAlan Gibbs:
Scott, I’m a few months behind on your initial posting but hopefully not too late to add a comment. I’m 50, an ex-serviceman, British. I have friends and family that are currently serving, some in “war” zones around the world.
4 November 2008, 7:17 amI first read this poem in the British Legion Club and have since found it on the web to duplicate on a poster and display in our shop to assist our Poppy Appeal. If anyone outside of the UK is unfamiliar with this, it is an annual charity appeal raising funds for ex-serviceman and their families that have fallen on hard times. It also supports our wounded, widows and orphans. Along with this it coincides with the anniversary of when The First World War finally ended after four long and bloody years of fighting, on November 11 1918. The guns stopped on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.
Millions of people were killed in the war and millions more were injured. In the years since 1918, even more people have died in wars around the world including, of course, World War Two.
November 11 was chosen back in 1919 as the special day each year when we would all think about and remember those who had died. To this day, almost 100 years later, at 11am on November 11 many people across Britain stay silent for two minutes to think about those who died.
Okay… so now the point.
Whatever freedoms one considers as God given rights, or Human rights in their initial births every single one of them has had to be defended and is still being defended, through military intervention. Yes in some cases these wars or skirmishes haven’t always ended successfully (and the USA has known some horrific casualties in failures) but we will always be ready to defend ours and every other human being’s right to what we take for granted.
I also agree that our troops and troops throughout the world are mis-used and there are some places that we are fighting in that are not about freedom and more about oil and greed. This I’m afraid is something we have to address in our politics. But I am in total belief that the poem is accurate, what you have may be yours by right, but there’s always someone somewhere waiting to take it away. Please support your soldiers for what they are, your friends, your family and the volunteers ready to jump in and defend you, without question, when you need them most.
Kris:
suggest that the rights
enshrined in the Declaration of Independence and the
Bill of Rights, both civil documents, were somehow
“given” to us by the military.
Comment on this: You are right the military didn’t give you your rights, the founding fathers did. The military guarantees your rights
!
10 November 2008, 4:15 pmAlex:
In some cases, the US Armed Forces protect our physical security. Freedom may be a different thing.
It does not matter if your priority is gun rights or gay marriage- when people say “The Troops are fighting to protect our rights and freedoms” they are only repeating a marketing slogan and passing along an urban legend.
13 February 2009, 3:39 amScott Kirwin:
Alex
13 February 2009, 6:18 pmThey protect us from external threats. Or are those marketing slogans and urban legends?
Alex:
So, when is it that we get to take delivery on these freedoms The Troops are fighting to protect and defend?
16 February 2009, 7:37 pmScott Kirwin:
Alex
Unfortunately only after we, the people, demand them. However so far it appears that we are happier to trade them in for surrogate parents – the federal government. The government takes away our responsibility for our own actions because we want them to. Unfortunately one cannot be free without being responsible, so we therefore lose our freedom.
But it’s not really a loss. You cannot lose something that you’ve willfully discarded. We, the people, have thrown away our freedom.
If the men who died on Iwo Jima and Okinawa could see today what they sacrificed for, they no doubt would shake their heads in disbelief. We, the people, don’t deserve their – or the fallen at Khe Sahn, Gettysburg, and Inchon – sacrifice.
It disgusts me.
16 February 2009, 9:17 pmAlex:
Scott,
Thanks for that- not ready to give up. Click on my name above to see a local protest this weekend.
Why was I there? I object to internal, suspicionless checkpoints. We should not expect to stop and answer the questions of federal agents if we are not crossing a border.
Alex
16 February 2009, 9:34 pmUSMC ‘79-’99
Sean:
He’s the one who gives his body as a weapon of the war,
30 April 2009, 1:14 pmAnd without him all this killing cant go on,
He’s the Universal soldier,
And he really is to blame,
Scott Kirwin:
Really?
30 April 2009, 1:18 pmYou think that killing can’t happen without soldiers?
If you like Anarchy, try Somalia, Darfur, and other shitholes..
sean:
Somalia, Darfur, and other ‘shitholes’ as you put it; all highly militarised countries were millions die at the hands of those that join the military, whatever form it may take in their country.
If it werent for people all over the world willing to sign up to military endeavours, be it sophisticated armies in the rich west or militia groups in poorer countries, and follow those who have a desire to kill and terrorise to obtain power then these wars and atrocities could not take place.
To fully quote Donovan:
He’s five foot-two, and he’s six feet-four,
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He’s all of thirty-one, and he’s only seventeen,
Been a soldier for a thousand years.
He’a a Catholic, a Hindu, an Atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew.
And he knows he shouldn’t kill,
And he knows he always will,
Kill you for me my friend and me for you.
And he’s fighting for Canada,
He’s fighting for France,
He’s fighting for the USA,
And he’s fighting for the Russians,
And he’s fighting for Japan,
And he thinks we’ll put an end to war this way.
And he’s fighting for Democracy,
He’s fighting for the Reds,
He says it’s for the peace of all.
He’s the one who must decide,
Who’s to live and who’s to die,
And he never sees the writing on the wall.
But without him,
How would Hitler have condemned him at Dachau?
Without him Caesar would have stood alone,
He’s the one who gives his body
As a weapon of the war,
And without him all this killing can’t go on.
He’s the Universal Soldier and he really is to blame,
1 May 2009, 12:37 pmHis orders come from far away no more,
They come from here and there and you and me,
And brothers can’t you see,
This is not the way we put the end to war.
GUARDIAN:
“The Military” Fathter, Daugther, Son, Mother, Grandmother, Grandfather (it’s us Americans) Defending the rights of all Americans so that we all can live under and enjoy the freedom of these rights. But for one minute do not think these rights will not be challenged by the world. Who will defend these rights? “There will be wars and rumors of wars”..
PEACE…
28 May 2009, 12:04 pmBob:
I really only have one thing to say about most of the comments that I have read here this morning. FREEDOM IS NOT FREE
!! What part of that sentence do you not understand. And regardless of whether or not you agree with current foriegn policy or not this country was founded on the principles that to be free sometimes means we have put our lives in the path of danger to protect those freedoms. I personally spent 20 years defending this great country and our freedoms, that is not just said to be bragging, however I am proud that I can say that can you. What have you done for your country recently or ever for that matter? John F. Kennedy said “Ask not what your country can do for you, rather what can you do for your country.” Think about it. And remember Freedom is not free. EVER
29 June 2009, 11:32 amJames:
Military members do not make policy (unless they are later elected to office), nor do they grant the freedoms that are listed in the U.S. Constitution and our Bill of Rights. However, without the military member, our Constitution and Bill of Rights would simply be some ingenious writings on pieces of paper. The military member protects our freedoms from those that without our military would take them from us by force. Without the military, would some of us raise our arms (like our Founding Fathers did) and fight the good fight when oppressive regimes attack? Absolutely! We may (like our Founding Fathers) even win that war. We then become citizen soldiers (anyone remember the Revolutionary War militias?) who must defend our freedoms ourselves. The military member stands-up and says, “I’ll take that burden from you, I’ll protect these freedoms we cherish.” That is what the sailor, soldier, airman, marine and coast guardman does for us and our nation. They allow us to utilize our freedom towards whatever means we choose, be it higher education, vocational training, plain laziness, etc. They stand-up, leave their families and risk their lives so that we can make these choices. Ultimately everything that we pace value in from our families, educational institutions, religious beliefs, etc. is protected by the military member. They may not have created it nor do they grant it to us, but without them we would still not have it.
25 October 2009, 2:37 amRick:
It cannot be put any plainer than Bob and James put it.While I did not serve in the military for 20 years I did serve and am aVietnam vetran if those who would dishonor our troops could see what these young men and women have seen they would die from shock. yet they just want to complain about our country and our military.if you cannot stand behind our troops please free to stand in front of them.
12 November 2009, 3:18 pmSanora:
How many rights and how much freedom would you have under communism? Would America be under communist control if it weren’t for her military?
12 November 2009, 4:19 pmRick:
I was honored and proud to attend a tribute to the vets ceremony at my grandchildren’s elementary school and as I gazed out at the 300+ faces looking up at us vets I realized once again why someone would put his life in danger to defend america. aswe all recited the pledge of allegiance together my heart swelled with pride and a renewed faith in our country’s future and yes while I am sure many find the pledge as politaccly incorrect, we all used the phrase “Under God” with Love and pride.GOD BLESS AMERICA.
15 November 2009, 6:48 pmPaul:
The US Army is older than the documents of which you speak. The Army was formed June 17, 1775. Patriots of a nation which did not yet exist fought and died for the rights and freedoms which were written down years later. Soldiers agian defended those freedoms from the British (1812), the Germans, the Japanese and countless others who really dont care about your rights. The Soldier may not be the one who makes the promise of freedom, he or she is just the one who ensures it is kept!
26 September 2010, 1:29 pmBryan:
And don’t forget the US Army National Guard started out as a militia nearly 100 years before the document was written. They fought in order to gain some sort of freedom. They fought to get the freedom you have today.
6 December 2010, 5:20 am