[New post] The Military Oath of the USA by maryh10000
accordingtohoyt posted: " The Military Oath of the USA by maryh10000 I served for four years in the US Air Force. As a member of the military, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. Here's what that meant to me. I did not swear an" According To Hoyt
I served for four years in the US Air Force. As a member of the military, I took an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America. Here's what that meant to me.
I did not swear an oath to the President of the United States, although he was my commander in chief. As a member of the military, I was obligated to obey my superior officers, and the commander in chief is the most superior of all. But my oath was not to him or her. It was to the Constitution.
I did not promise to fight for freedom, per se. Although I do believe that upholding the Constitution does support freedom.
What does it take to be considered a citizen of the United States? You have to enter legally and meet certain requirements. And you have to support the Constitution of the United States.
Here's what you don't have to do. You don't have to look like me. You don't have to believe in the same religion as I do, or any religion at all. You don't have to come from any particular place on the planet, nor do you have to be a native English speaker. You don't have to be married or heterosexual. You can wear a hijab if you want to, or a bikini or hot pants. If you're a man, you can wear anything you want, including a dress or fishnet stockings. If you're a woman, same thing. None of these things make you more or less a citizen of the United States, as long as you support the Constitution.
If I had been put in combat (which I personally never was, and was highly unlikely ever to be) I was prepared to fight and kill and die for you, even if I strongly disagreed with how you chose to live your life, as long as you supported the Constitution. Read that again. That's what it means to be a USAian military person. That's the oath I took. I meant it.
Does the USA get into wars we shouldn't? Yes. Is that something I thought about as an Air Force officer? Yes, it was. It influenced when and whether I enlisted, and whether I stayed in. It's part of the reason that I, personally, do not believe in the draft. But I recognized that I did not have all the facts, and I had to trust the people in charge, at least while I remained in the military. There was no other option. The most control I had then was to vote and support people I trusted or to leave the military. Good people can disagree on military policies, and I don't know everything.
This is why it is essential that the people in charge of the military keep the trust of people like me. Because if I don't trust them, I will not fight. That is also why it is essential that the people in charge of the military support the Constitution. Otherwise, there is no reason for me to fight. There is no United States without the Constitution.
Because. We are not defined by race or sex or religion or place of origin or even shared history. The United States citizen is not defined by adherence to a clan but by adherence to the Constitution. Period.
This is what is currently being called the right-wing extremist position. It used to be called common consensus patriotism in the United States.
No comments:
Post a Comment