IN AMERICA, WAR is not just about death & destruction. It's also about selflessness & sacrifice. I'll limit myself to three typical examples of what I mean. In 2003, Master Sergeant Mike Maltz lost his life on a mission to save two Afghani children. Around the same time, a nine-year-old named "Salah" survived an Iraqi land mine because military medics wouldn't give up on him. Even today, our troops routinely visit orphanages in Afghanistan & Iraq just to give children the hugs they so desperately need.
These selfless acts inspire us every time our military steps onto a battlefield. You may be one of those who asks "where do we get young people like this?"
It's a truly profound question -- and yet every veteran at today's ceremony knows this answer. Every veteran buried here knew the answer, too.
Where do we get young people like this? We get them from the United States of America.
They always come from America. Man or woman, young or old, big city or small town, race, religion, creed, soldier, sailor, airman, marine -- they all have two things in common. They were all young Americans, and they all served in the United States military.
Young Americans stepped forward in the Revolutionary War, before we were united as a nation. They stepped forward again in the First World War. They stepped forward in the Second World War. Young Americans stepped forward in the Korean & Vietnam conflicts. They stepped forward in Grenada, Panama, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and in countless other places. Young Americans stepped forward in Kuwait in 1991 and in Iraq in 2003.
One of those young Americans is Adrian Stutzman, who left Wellman and is now serving in Iraq. Another of those young Americans was my father-in-law, John Dillard. His gravestone stands just a few feet from us in this cemetery. John fought in World War II in the China-Burma-India theater, but he could have as easily been at Normandy or Iwo Jima. Every time his aircraft left the ground, John honestly didn't know if it would return. Or even if he would return. But I tell you this: every time John's aircraft left the ground, John went with it. And every time Adrian's team goes out on patrol, Adrian goes with them. They are both young Americans.
Remember: the U.S. enjoyed its freedoms in World War II. We enjoy our freedoms even today. What, exactly, did John Dillard fight for back then? What do all young Americans like Adrian Stutzman fight for?
John and Adrian risked their lives halfway around the world to secure both America's future and other countries' freedoms. Countries they'd never seen before. Countries with a history & tradition & people they didn't know. John & Adrian fought for what all young Americans hold most dear: freedom.
And not just America's freedom! "Freedom," period.
Every young American, past or present, brought to the fight their single most valuable asset -- their very lives. They offered to face death even for another nation's freedom. It could be France in 1945 or it could be Iraq today. It doesn't matter. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" shouldn't be unique to us, and young Americans know it. That's why they choose to put on a military uniform.
YES, OTHER COUNTRIES join us in our efforts to secure freedom. Yes, their young people selflessly face death in foreign lands. Why, then, do our young people keep leading the fight for liberty? Why don't other nations lead the way? How come they don't say "we'll guard freedom for awhile so your troops can take a well-earned rest"?
Why? I'll tell you why. It's because we are the most free country on Earth. Our nation abounds with freedoms thanks to young Americans who fought for it. You can see our freedoms everywhere you look.
Think about other "free" countries for a moment. How many of them give The People as many rights as we do in our Constitution? How many of them give The People an equal chance to be their leader or to pursue any other lifelong dream? How many other "free" countries will let The People criticize their own government?
And most important of all -- how many other "free" countries will so openly accept immigrants? We could've closed our borders after 9/11, you know. We could've hogged freedom to ourselves. But we didn't. Our Statue of Liberty still calls out to the "huddled masses yearning to breathe free." From those who fled the Irish potato famine to those who fled Vietnam to those who flee Cuba, immigrants yearn to breathe free in America more than anywhere else.
America is truly a nation "of the people, by the people, for the people." We are the most free country on Earth thanks to young Americans who fought for it here and abroad. Thanks to them, our flag is the most powerful symbol of freedom anywhere in the world. If you ask a child in Iraq to draw a picture of what freedom means, that child will include a U.S. flag somewhere in the drawing.
"Selfless" is the correct word for today's ceremony. It describes the commitment in every young American, past or present, who fought to secure the blessings of liberty -- not just for ourselves and our posterity, but for the entire world. We come here today to remember them all, past and present, and to say "thank you." Shame on us if we should ever forget their selflessness.
There will always be those who despise freedom, and I have no doubt they'll meet up with the U.S. military someday. Future young Americans will be standing at the ready if another nation needs our help to secure freedom. That's how much freedom means to us.
So the next time you ask yourself, "where do we get young people like this?," I want you to remember: we get them from the United States of America. Thank you.
[Rob Rosenberger spent four months in Iraq in 2003 during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM.]