I'm thankful for the men and women of America's armed forces, who, if need be, put their lives on the line in defense of our freedom.
The day before Veterans Day I attended the 309th Military Intelligence Battalion graduation ceremony at Fort Huachuca, Ariz. A son, 2nd Lt. Daniel Robinson, was among the 42 graduates. Impeccably clad in military dress, the graduates all stood tall. What happened that day further reaffirms my faith in the goodness of America and in her sons and daughters.Talk about being treated with respect. My new name at Fort Huachuca was "Sir" -- "Nice to meet you, sir;" "Thank you for coming today, sir;" "How are things in Utah, sir?"
That's part of military culture. Part of an impressive value system. Inside the front cover of the graduation program were listed Army values:
Loyalty: Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit and other soldiers.
Duty: Fulfill your obligations.
Respect: Treat people as they should be treated.
Selfless-service: Put the welfare of the nation, the Army and your subordinates before your own.
Honor: Live up to all the Army values.
Integrity: Do what's right, legally and morally.
Personal courage: Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral).
The military has lots of examples of courage, of patriotism that defines, really, America's greatness.
An example involving Arizona Sen. John McCain, a Republican candidate for president, is particularly moving. It was related by Maj. Larry Sadd, graduation guest speaker.
McCain, a naval aviator during the Vietnam War, was shot down over Hanoi in 1967 and seriously injured. He was imprisoned for 51/2 years.
One of McCain's cellmates was Mike Christian, a Navy bombardier-navigator from Selma, Ala., who had been shot down about six months before McCain.
From packages prisoners were allowed to receive, Christian had taken little scraps of red and white cloth, and with a needle fashioned from a piece of bamboo, had been able to crudely sew a American flag on the inside of his blue prisoner's shirt.
Every afternoon, the prisoners would hang Christian's flag on the wall of their cell and together recite the Pledge of Allegiance. "No other event of the day had as much meaning to us," McCain wrote in his book, "Faith of my Fathers."
One afternoon, however, the guards discovered the flag during an inspection. They confiscated it and then that evening returned and took Christian outside to give him their version of the Pledge of Allegiance -- a severe beating. They punctured his eardrum and broke several of his ribs. They dragged him bleeding and badly beaten back into the cell. McCain then describes what happened next:
"After things quieted down, we all lay down to go to sleep. Before drifting off, I happened to look toward a corner of the room, where one of the four naked lightbulbs that were always illuminated in our cell cast a dim light on Mike Christian. He had crawled there quietly when he thought the rest of us were sleeping. With his eyes nearly swollen shut from the beating, he had quietly picked up his needle and thread and begun sewing a new flag."
After the ceremony I was introduced to a graduate from Maryland. I asked him what he was going to be doing when he returned home.
"Our unit's getting ready to go to Bosnia, sir." Shortly after the new year, his unit is going there for a six-month tour of duty.
He and the others at Fort Huachuca and at U.S. military bases throughout the country and the world will honor America wherever and whenever they are called to serve.
And some of them will be doing that while we're heartily sampling turkey and pumpkin pie Thursday in the greatest nation on earth.
Deseret News editorial writer John Robinson can be reached by e-mail at
jrob@desnews.com