As a high school teacher and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps and Operation Iraqi Freedom, I often spoke with my students when their curiosities arose concerning the military and a possible decision to join. There were often those students who felt called to serve and others who knew college directly after high school would not be the best route for them.
After a few months of introspection during his senior year, one of my students decided to join the Navy. His parents were unable to attend his enlistment, so I took him to the Military Entrance Processing Station to watch him swear into the military in the same ceremony I had engaged in nearly 20 years prior. When joining the armed forces of the United States, enlistees raise their right hands and perform the Oath of Enlistment, the first line of which struck me as I watched my student stand in front of the U.S. flag: “I [name] do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic…”
This first sentence encapsulates so many facets of what it means to be American. The oath stands as a testament to the fact that American identity is intrinsically tied to a set of principles: ideals ingrained in the Constitution such as individual liberty, justice, and equality under the rule of law. The oath thus transcends a simple agreement to protect national borders. It is, in essence, a promise to protect the philosophical foundations of the U.S.
The peculiarity of this concept cannot be overstated. In many countries across the globe, the military has been used as a tool for regime protection — it exists to defend unconscionable violations of human rights under dictatorial rule. We are lucky to live in a country in which military might is governed by civilians bound by the principles of liberty.
The U.S. is often referred to as a “melting pot,” a metaphor that describes the diverse array of cultures and ethnicities from which Americans come. This concept was made poignant by President Ronald Reagan: “I received a letter just before I left office from a man. I don’t know why he chose to write it, but I’m glad he did. He wrote that you can go to live in France, but you can’t become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Italy, but you can’t become a German, an Italian. He went through Turkey, Greece, Japan, and other countries. But he said anyone, from any corner of the world, can come to live in the United States and become an American.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
As such, service members with disparate backgrounds share a unified sense of purpose, built around a vision of freedom and inclusion. Several of my teammates in the Marines were from different countries: Mexico, South Korea, and Thailand to name a few. Through their service, they demonstrated dedication to their new country and a desire to realize the binding values of their new home. Time and again, veterans carry the values instilled in them to service in the civilian world through public service and advocacy to uphold the principles for which they fought.
On Veterans Day, it is important to remember that those who wore the uniform of the U.S. swore not to protect just a geographical set of boundaries but, more importantly, a set of ideals that sets the U.S. apart from the rest of the world. As we reflect on this day, may we reassert our commitment to safeguard the liberties that distinguish our nation.
Tyler Bonin, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, is the civics education specialist at the Goldwater Institute’s Van Sittert Center for Constitutional Advocacy.