Christmas Enough For Me

Our son came home last night. Andrew is an Airman First Class in the United States Air Force. He was due to arrive home for Christmas on Saturday December 19; however, due to a strong snow storm which dumped almost two feet of snow in the mid Atlantic region, his flight was delayed and he did not get in until the early morning hours of December 21. It was a long, winding, and tiring trip and one which caused us as a family awaiting him some amount of disappointment that we would have him home one day less. The days we have seen him in the last year have been few and far between and are, as you can imagine greatly valued and precious to us all - you can understand, I'm sure, of the importance to us of each and every one.
As I sit here this morning, drinking my tea, knowing that he is safely home and sleeping in his own bed, I could not help but think of all of those in military service this day who are separated from loved ones this Christmas. I thought of how many special days have been missed since this war began almost a decade ago, for you see, it's not just Christmas, birthdays, and anniversaries that are special - every day in this life is a gift from God, and after all, aren't gifts from God special? Our nation has asked great things of a very small number of it's citizens and they have responded with magnificence - they have taken their rightful place in the American pantheon of honor, like all those before them, humbly and heroically.
Honestly, I believe we have asked too much of too few - some of our heroes have gone now, into harms way in multiple theaters and for multiple tours; yet, they have voluntarily answered their nation's call and continue to do so with pride and distinction. The attitude and actions which exemplify such service are the very definition of that which is extraordinary and their fellow citizens should be forever profoundly grateful - to be less would be a disservice to their service and a reproach to any nation. Note the level of their commitment through an apt comparison: At the outbreak of war with Japan and Germany on December 7/8 1941, the population of the United States stood at 133,000,000. Over the next four years, over 16 million, roughly 12% of the population served in the varied branches of the United States military - six million as volunteers and slightly over ten million as draftees. In 2001, the nation numbered 285,000,000. Over the last eight years, just over two million, all volunteers, have been deployed to serve - less than 1% of the population.

Here is the breakdown of deployments between 2001-2009 among the service branches:

• Army. More than 1 million soldiers have deployed since the beginning of the wars. These 1 million soldiers have completed 1.5 million deployment events, with 352,700 deploying more than once.

In October, 172,800 soldiers were deployed to the war zones.

• Navy. More than 367,900 sailors have deployed since the beginning of the wars, with 147,200 deploying more than once. In all, the sailors have logged 595,700 deployments.

In October, 30,000 sailors were deployed.

• Marine Corps. More than 251,800 Marines have deployed since the start of the wars, completing 392,900 tours. More than 106,400 have deployed more than once.

In October, 20,900 Marines were deployed.

• Air Force. More than 389,900 airmen have deployed since 2001, with 185,500 going more than once. In all, airmen have completed 771,400 deployment events.

In October, 31,500 airmen were deployed.

• Coast Guard. More than 4,370 Coast Guardsmen have deployed since 2001, with 650 deploying more than once. The Coast Guard has 5,333 deployments on file, and in October, 438 were deployed.

Sobering, and convicting...Many Americans today are not aware of these facts and even more indicting, many do not care. We have committed our nation to war and a disproportionately minute number of it's sons and daughters to then wage it. We have counted the cost and then asked a very small number to pay it. We have erected again the altar of freedom and asked a most precious few to suffer and sacrifice themselves upon it.
In the words of Dr. Adrian R. Lewis, Associate Professor of History and Department Chair at the University of North Texas and one who has taught at the Naval War College and at West Point, and is a retired United States Army Major:

"Too many soldiers and marines have served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, some as many as five. "Stop loss" policies have precluded soldiers from leaving the Army at the end of their contractual agreements, a practice some have called a "backdoor draft." There are cases of post-traumatic stress disorder on a scale we have never seen before. Families are being destroyed, hurting the children of servicemen and women and diminishing morale. In 2008, 138 soldier deaths were confirmed as suicides, the fourth year in a row the Army has seen an increase. Last month, a soldier on his third tour in Iraq and suffering from PTSD shot and killed five comrades. The psychological damage caused by severe trauma is cumulative.

We are in uncharted waters. Mental health professionals do not fully understand the long-term effects from multiple tours in combat zones. We do know that soldiers who landed in North Africa in November 1942 and fought all the way through to victory also saw less combat than many of the soldiers and marines currently in Iraq and Afghanistan. We know that marines who fought in the first campaign in the Pacific theater at Guadalcanal in August 1942 and the last campaigns at Iwo Jima and Okinawa in February and April 1945 saw less combat than many of those serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Out of 300 million Americans, less than 1 percent is bearing the full burden of two long wars.

To be sure, the D-Day forces experienced trauma. Liberating Europe from the Axis powers took a horrific toll on life and limb. But U.S. soldiers were paying what their generation recognized as the price of citizenship in a free America.

The failure to ask the American people to serve constitutes not only a failure of leadership but also a failure of citizenship. The fact that there have been no actions taken and no national debate on this issue is indicative of a larger problem.

Today, many Americans are uninvolved, disengaged, disinterested, and unconcerned about the wars their country fights, which suggests they do not understand that price. (For those who serve, a magnetic yellow ribbon on the exterior of a car stating "Support Our Troops" does little but inspire contempt.) Too many Americans are uninformed and uneducated about the history and culture of the people whose support, cooperation, and resources we need to maintain the world economy, to fuel our cars, to sustain our national debt, to maintain our national security, which is inextricably tied to global security, and to avoid another 9/11.

The American people live comfortably with a lie. The lie is that they are not needed, that the armed forces of the United States have sufficient men and women to do all the jobs given to them, that troop morale is high, that the burdens carried and pains felt by military families is negligible, and that there is no anger directed at civilians for their absence from the too numerous battlefields upon which our armed forces fight or for their decision to accept the politically expedient policy of placing the entire burden of the global war on terrorism on the small, professional forces. There is anger, there is pain, and there is contempt. However, it is all out of sight and out of mind. The distance between the American people and their armed forces has grown considerably in the years since D-day and exponentially since the Vietnam War, facilitating the maintenance of the comfortable facade that the American people no longer have a part to play in war, beyond that of spectator. On June 6, 1944, Americans cared about one another, loved their country, had a strong sense of equality of sacrifice, understood what citizenship means and the responsibilities that come with it, were courageous, and would not ask others to serve in their place. Today, Americans have said yes to war...but no to military service, and no to the participation of their sons and daughters.

What would our (fathers, grandfathers, and) great-grandfathers have said to that?"

As I finish my tea, my mind mind moves from our lost day to the over 7,000 Americans who have lost their lives on and since that day of infamy over eight years ago. Lives never lived, potential never realized, purpose never fulfilled...What a hellish thing war is and what a precious thing peace. So precious it is worth fighting for - by all of us. In the eloquent words of John Stuart Mill:

War is an ugly thing but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse.
The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

Thank God for those who stand as eternally vigilant watchmen upon the wall of freedom and thank God for those who have stormed the gates of hell - for us. This Christmas, and always, may we, as Americans, remember two things - that God has already given us the greatest and most resplendent of gifts - may we never forget that the Son of God came to live among us, went out to wage war, overcame fear, suffering, sacrifice, and death, and returned with glory, honor, victory, and eternal freedom for all who trust in Him... On an earthly level and in an human realm, involving salvation from this world's evil, have not our sons and daughters done something very much the same?
Our son came home last night...that's Christmas enough for me.