With Honor

WITH HONOR OUR TROOPS 

Soldiers give of their time, treasure, wellness, and basic freedoms to insure that we the people may practice what they have given up for us.   

I salute and thank all veterans for their service and I also acknowledge their specific losses during that service for me.  I don't think we fully understand what a veteran gives up to serve. 

With sacrifice they have served.  Death, is the worse loss but other forms of sacrifice need to be remembered.    

Time lost; most vets served from 2 (730 days) to 4 (1460 days) years.   Whether drafted or enlisted, sacrifice was the name of the game.  Not going to college with the rest of your his school graduating class.  Away from home for the holidays, Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, births, deaths, burials, graduations, and the like leave memories of time lost.   

Freedom lost; Told what to do and how to do it for at least the next few years.  Told how and when to kill.  Told how and when to die.  Given the means to kill and to survive.  These are lessons that are never forgotten but are pushed deeply inside the veteran and not talked about.  It is not politically correct.  Freedom of speech disappears the first day of Basic training.  Freedom to assemble is gone for your tour of duty.  You may assemble only as the NCO and Officers direct you to.  Freedom to bare arms is mandatory.  No choice here.  Freedom to worship as you choose takes a back seat to the needs of the State on a given day.  No private property here.  Just a barracks, where the government issues you a bed and locker.  The term Government Issue (GI) takes on a new meaning when your underwear is Government Issue.  Freedom to use the bathroom disappears the first day.  Freedom to have opinions voiced is gone permanently.   

Losses:  innocence, time, family relationships, money, career, youth, physical health, mental health, spiritual health, educational goals, and many other losses to numerous to list here. 

 THIS IS WHAT A SOLDIER GIVES UP TO SERVE

The US Bill of Rights:

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.  

Soldier gives up: You do not speak until spoken to and then you are only allowed to speak in a manner that is military speak.  Sir, No Sir etc,  I thought I had an opinion about a topic and so spoke it.  After KP and a few other punishments I learned fast that my freedom of speech was banned for a while.  We were only aloud to assemble when ordered to.  To assemble and to vote on what the NCO’s had ordered us to do was a military criminal offense.  We could petition the government through the Military Chaplin.  How do you think that worked out. 

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.  

A soldier gives up his personnel right to bear arms. The soldier is only allowed to bear arms only at the discretion of the authorities to be.  I had no personal right to bear arms. 

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

This amendment was adhered to.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.  

A soldier gives up his right to security of person and security of property when in the military.  Your very clothes and living area can and is searched on a regular basis.  This is called inspections.  Some of your personnel property is deemed contraband and is confiscated by the military even though in the civilian world it would be perfectly legal.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.  

As the Amendment specifies.  If in the service these rights are suspended.

Amendment VI

A soldier gives up his Miranda rights and the process of the constitutional based prosecution.  No speedy trial, no public viewing, no right to confrontation by accuser.  In place is the Military Code of Justice.  It is not the same as the Constitutional process at all.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

The military does not operate under common law at all. 

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Soldiers give of their time, treasure, wellness, and basic freedoms to insure that we the people may practice what they have given up for us. 

I salute and thank all veterans for their service and I also acknowledge their specific losses during that service for me.