This Memorial Day, perhaps more than most, I’m reminded of the contrasts between people and the things they choose to stand for in their lives. With all of the talk coming from the left about the imagined 1 percent versus the beleaguered 99 percent, it’s very easy to simply tune out these fabricated numbers and carry on.
However, there is a number that escapes many people, particularly malcontents who stand around in parks complaining that somebody owes them something — the silent 7 percent.
Only 7 percent of Americans have worn the uniform of their country, a choice that benefits 100 percent of us. And when one of these Americans goes into harm’s way, he or she doesn’t go alone. Mothers, fathers, spouses and loved ones all bear the burden of their oaths.
But one thing you will never see these men and women doing is standing around whining about their lots in life. People who have lost limbs, vision or hearing, those who have held close friends as they breathed their last and people who might actually have something to complain about — they don’t. In an all-volunteer force where sacrifice, perseverance and character are prized and instilled in every member, self-pity receives no quarter.
As a veteran, I take Memorial Day very seriously. For me personally, it is a time to honor my 35 fallen comrades lost in the toe-to-toe fighting undertaken by the 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines in Iraq in 2004. It is a time when those who served in years past clap a hand on the shoulders of those now in uniform to encourage them, reinforce our bonds and remember those who came before us. It is also a time for those who may have never worn the uniform to take a moment and reflect on the freedoms that they enjoy, so dearly purchased by others.
As I look out at my nation today, I can’t help but be both concerned and encouraged by a few things. I am encouraged by the fact that more young people are enthusiastic about volunteering to serve their country than at any time since World War II.
Their amazing achievements and unwavering commitments are breathtaking to behold. Young men and women, many straight out of high school or college, are snatching victory after victory from the enemy under the most wretched of conditions, despite the efforts of irresponsible politicians who continually undercut them at every turn. These are the extraordinary 7 percent who stand in harm’s way on our behalf every single day.
I am also concerned by the politics of envy and the culture of entitlement coming from certain quarters. As they declare their cause a class struggle between the 99 percent and the 1 percent, all the while sipping lattes at Starbucks and tweeting from their iPhones, I can’t help but feel that I’m watching history repeat itself.
Surely these self-absorbed brats spouting their Marxist slogans and platitudes are carbon copies of the miscreants from the 1960s who spat on returning Vietnam veterans and called them “baby-killers.” Even if one charitably disregards the truly ignorant things they’re saying, their public behavior and hygiene invite the comparison.
Still, I’m certain that, as our nation’s history has borne out time and again, the extraordinary freedoms enjoyed by a grateful nation shall be the enduring monument to the selfless, while the ungrateful and self-absorbed will once again slink back into shamed obscurity.
Joshua Fonzi is a microbiology and cell science and entomology and nematology senior at UF. His column appears on Thursdays. You can contact him at opinions@alligator.org.
