Honor is a tricky word to define, because it can mean many things depending on the context in which it is used. In the courtroom, the judge is referred to as "Your Honor" out of respect for that position. Sometimes, a cyclist may have "the honor" of riding at the front of the peleton, or at a wedding the bride and bridegroom have the honor of the first dance. For the purposes of this article, a more general definition of honor will suffice, and honor will be used to describe a person who is upright in character, and who has great personal integrity.
Referring to someone as "in the service" is a way of honoring those who would set aside their own affairs for a time while they tend to a greater cause. The greater cause is typically some military action on some corner of the globe requiring that service member to be absent from friends and family. Today, the greater cause is the dual-fronted war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Are today's military members in the service of the country? Traditional propaganda would have the American public believing that those people are risking their lives abroad so that Americans at home can sleep soundly under the blanked of freedom they provide. Because, they say, if we didn't take the fight to the enemy, we would have to fight them on our own soil, at great expense of innocent American lives. Instead, it is a greater cause to risk innocent Iraqi lives since somehow they pose a risk to the lives of innocent Americans. This propaganda is alive and well in middle America, and it is a fiction.
Let me take a concrete example of honor and service and see what conclusions can potentially be drawn. On one hand, I will serve as an example, on the other, a good friend of mine. I graduated college and was commissioned an Ensign in the United States Navy. Not long after graduation, I was on watch in the Arabian Gulf aboard a destroyer, ostensibly to enforce sanctions on the state of Iraq imposed by the United Nations. My vessel queried foreign boats, boarded and inspected them, and sometimes detained their crew for violating sanctions. Other times, we would "show the flag" by asserting our nation's right of passage through the Strait of Hormuz, guns at the ready the entire time should the Iranians decide to assert any of their own rights. I did this for 4 years, and what do I or anyone else have to show for it?
My friend, on the other hand, has been a teacher for 30 years. She graduated college and began a career teaching elementary and high-school students. She is by all accounts a model citizen of the United States. She has raised 4 beautiful children who are also model citizens, and throughout her career she has had a positive impact on the lives of thousands of children. Nearly everyone she comes in to contact with is better for having known her. She has been, and still is today along with her husband who has also been teaching for 30 years, in the service of the country. Yet, no one refers to her as such, in fact, some people would disparage her because she chose to attend college instead of "joining the service". She joined the teaching service, and she has served honorably. This children of this nation can attest to her service. Who can attest to mine?
Between myself and my friend, who has served with more honor? Some people would say that the teacher did not risk her life for the nation, so my service was more honorable. Or is it correct to say that I provided her with the opportunity to serve because of my "sacrifice" abroad? I could write such a sentence without cringing if our nation's military had not been co-opted into the aggressive force it has become. When I joined the military, I joined to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, not invade and occupy a nation that took no part in harming the citizens of my own. The United States Military was never intended to be an aggressive force, rather, it was intended to be a defensive militia, capable of defending the shores of this land against those who would do us harm. Instead, I am a member of a imperialist, power-hungry militia, asserting an aggressive agenda on the land of over 200 other countries. I have defended nothing, in fact, quite the opposite, I have unwittingly decreased the security of this nation by unnecessarily angering foreign nations. Which is more honorable: To teach the future of America or to provide freedom to America by "asserting our presence" across the lands of the world?
The military members of the United States are no more in the "service of the country" than any other profession and they aren't defending our nation from any force that can cause us significant harm. Over 150,000 uniformed personnel occupy the nation of Iraq, and in doing so, serve no one but the radical interests of the elite of this nation. They have sacrificed their time and family lives not to defend this country, but to press the aggressive interests of this country on foreign shores, a bastardization of the original intent of the military. Furthermore, the members of the military are a volunteer force, and they are paid well for their efforts. I was paid handsomely for my work overseas, and so are those who are now overseas. Individual persons serving in the military may be considered honorable, but closer scrutiny is required to determine the proper placement of that term. The actions of this nation's military is dishonorable because it has not acted in an upright manner by invading and occupying a foreign nation that caused us no harm. This nation's military lacks personal integrity because it cannot admit the mistake openly and take the necessary actions to right this error. Any military person who understand the proper role of the military as set forth in the Constitution, and continues to remain a part of the military is complicit in the dishonorable actions of this nation, and are themselves dishonorable. It is no longer honorable to be a part of the nation's armed forces.
Forget the propaganda, the songs, the flags, and the sense of security you feel when you consider the U.S. armed forces. It is a ruse, a fiction, and a shameful use of those people who are in the prime of their lives. They are dishonorable, and will continue to be so until they act otherwise. As for honor and service, I salute the teachers of this nation, the businessmen, and the doctors for their continued hard work to make this country the great country that it is.
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