Troopathon 2009: Why I Love the Military

Certain phrases come to mind when I think about the military: Our boys, our men and women in uniform, our guys. The key being the word “our.” They represent us in uniform, or to be more specific, they represent me.

I can’t fight because I have a different job to do as an American citizen. But my rights, my personal property, my family and my life are all fought for by proxy… our guys.

When I see any military person of any age I tell them, “Thank you for your service.” Recently, I’ve had a few ex-military friends try to dismiss my gratitude by expressing their own regret for having joined, “Don’t thank me. I’m not for these wars. I just joined to get a free ride to college.” I still thank them, because they did their time. That’s their neck on the line, riding in a helicopter in Afghanistan in my place.

The military is particularly valuable to me because I’m an artist. All artists owe their freedom of expression to soldiers willing to live and die for that freedom. Look at the history of totalitarian regimes and they never allow the artists to freely express themselves after their country is defeated. In fact, artists are considered part of the spoils of victory. The military doesn’t owe us the reciprocal because while artists are liberated by the military, the military are not liberated by the people they represent.

It is implied by having a standing army, that ultimately man is fallen. You can educate everyone and have the world’s greatest negotiators in the world but at some point you have to have a military to protect freedom. They are the bottom line of the protection of our existence as a country and because I love America, I love the military.