Memorial Day Musings

After spending Memorial Day weekend at the beach enjoying the many freedoms afforded to me by the sacrifices of countless brave men and women from the past 300+ years of American history, a few thoughts come to mind. First and foremost, thank you to all those who serve our country.

As we reflect on their sacrifices this Memorial Day, it is also important to remember why some of those sacrifices were made, and engage in some uncomfortable dialogue about the United States Military’s history.

In many cases, particularly in the last 70 years, it seems that the United States government has taken advantage of the commitments made by our troops. There are plenty of examples of the United States utilizing military force where it was less than necessary, in some cases as a result of completely fabricated stories involving unproven threats to our national security. This heinous abuse of power must be called out when it occurs, and we must demand better of our leaders than to use our troops as pawns for their own political agendas. We need to respect these brave men and women enough to only ask them to defend our country when it is truly necessitated.

It is essential that the American public wisen up and do a better job of calling out our leaders when they prematurely threaten military action as a solution to a problem, as is currently happening with the conflicts in Iran, Venzuela, and the US-Mexican border. We have to put an end to the pattern of engaging in endless wars that result in thousands of troops laying down their lives because the civilians are too ignorant and apathetic to call out our government when they deploy our troops without just cause. Military force should only be utilized when we have stone cold proof that it is the only way to resolve a direct threat to our national security, anything else is disrespectful to our troops and their families.