N'Oubliez Pas Day
Ironically, "N'oubliez pas" is about all I remember from six years of French in elementary, middle and high school. It means "do not forget", or otherwise stated, remember. As I am halfway around the world from most of you reading this, I can almost smell the charcoals firing on the barbeque, feel the warm summer breeze and taste the freshest of fruit salads on this nationally recognized US holiday. It is a beautiful time of year as spring showers fade to a trickle, new hatchlings begin to fly and a feeling of "the good times are here again" pervades at poolside gatherings with drink in hand and sunglasses shielding the eyes from the long day's sunlight.
Being in Beijing, I will miss those gatherings this year, but it will not slip by unnoticed. And in fact, this year the holiday stands out more starkly than recent years. In the heart of the largest communist country in the world, my appreciation for the liberties I enjoy at home is more profound and appreciated than ever. In my private conversations with many people in China, especially the younger twenty-something generation, they too would like complete freedom of expression, speech and the press, none of which exist today.
(Mao's picture at the Heavenly Gate at the West end of Tian Square.)
We all know about the Chinese government's violent suppression of mass protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989. CNN played the looped video of the lone student, putting his life in harm's way, standing in front of three tanks as they tried to maneuver forward. Thousands of protesters were killed and thousands more injured. The protestors were seeking democracy, government reform and an end to corruption, but thousands of troops and tanks silenced their voices.
For the past two hundred and thirty years, US citizens have enjoyed liberties heralded by the world, not in spite of its troops, but because of them. A country by the people, for the people is rhetoric that you might even find in Mao's "Little Red Book", the difference being that in one country the military is used to keep the government in power and in the other, it is historically used to protect the people from outside harm (one exception being the Civil War). The American Revolution, Spanish American War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulfs I and II are the major conflicts (but no means the only) in which the US military defended/protected/preserved the liberties I enjoy today. And in some cases, US troops were sent to far away shores to the aid of allies, suffering tremendous casualties in the process, never to return home again.
Touring Vietnam in April, I was faced with the miserable reality of where many US troops were stationed, deep in the humid mosquito infested jungle with little or no support and bullets and mortar screaming toward them from out of nowhere. For the most part, there is no good place to die. For the soldiers that died at Khe Sanh, you can be sure it was pure hell. Saving Private Ryan gave one of the best dramatizations of the insanity and massive loss of life during the Normandy landing in WWII followed closely by A Thin Red Line providing an up close look of the horrors of fighting in Guadalcanal.
War has been around since the beginning of civilization, but it wasn't until the United States that a major world power used its military for primarily defensive purposes instead of conquering other nations. Because of that restraint and the world reknowned "American Dream" people on every continent look to the United States as a model for freedom and opportunity. The very existence of the United States and its Constitution gives hope to those not yet enjoying the same freedoms. Perhaps one day, their government will also be by the people for the people.
The above is not blindly condoning US foregin policy, but remembering the men and women who sacrificed their lives or their quality of life, the families who lost their loved ones and the men and women standing watch today. In fact, there have been military actions with which I disagree, most notably, the present Iraq War. But there are also men and women serving in the US armed forces who disagree with the war, but they still carry out their duties. For that I am thankful as it makes it possible for me (indirectly) to write this entry disagreeing with the government's decision to go to war. Does that make me unpatriotic?
I don't think so, but some in Washington D.C. have suggested such in their sound bite messages. Didn't the armed service personnel sacrifice their lives or limbs or mental health in the pursuit of preserving the freedom to debate openly? Isn't that truly patriotic? Isn't that what the Framers intended when they wrote the Constitution? It's a bit scary when career politicians begin to identify who is and who is not a patriot by a person's support or lack of support for a war. If competing opinions cannot be shared because it is "unpatriotic", well, then you might as well move to China because that is the same party line here, only the party is the Communist Party of the People's Republic.
Our democracy is not perfect, but it is still hanging on as the beacon of hope for those less fortunate living under oppressive regimes across the globe. And today, more than most, let us not forget those that sacrificed everything, those receiving Purple Hearts and the veterans who live with the horrors of war in their mind's eye each day. It is incumbent upon every citizen to preserve our most valued treasure, our god given, inalienable right to liberty. We must never forget from where we came and ensure that we do not stray too far off course as we may not find our way back. N'oubliez pas.
God Bless the men and women now serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, far from their families, in their fourth year of active duty in what looks to be a long drawn out engagement.
Being in Beijing, I will miss those gatherings this year, but it will not slip by unnoticed. And in fact, this year the holiday stands out more starkly than recent years. In the heart of the largest communist country in the world, my appreciation for the liberties I enjoy at home is more profound and appreciated than ever. In my private conversations with many people in China, especially the younger twenty-something generation, they too would like complete freedom of expression, speech and the press, none of which exist today.
(Mao's picture at the Heavenly Gate at the West end of Tian Square.)We all know about the Chinese government's violent suppression of mass protests at Tiananmen Square in 1989. CNN played the looped video of the lone student, putting his life in harm's way, standing in front of three tanks as they tried to maneuver forward. Thousands of protesters were killed and thousands more injured. The protestors were seeking democracy, government reform and an end to corruption, but thousands of troops and tanks silenced their voices.
For the past two hundred and thirty years, US citizens have enjoyed liberties heralded by the world, not in spite of its troops, but because of them. A country by the people, for the people is rhetoric that you might even find in Mao's "Little Red Book", the difference being that in one country the military is used to keep the government in power and in the other, it is historically used to protect the people from outside harm (one exception being the Civil War). The American Revolution, Spanish American War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Persian Gulfs I and II are the major conflicts (but no means the only) in which the US military defended/protected/preserved the liberties I enjoy today. And in some cases, US troops were sent to far away shores to the aid of allies, suffering tremendous casualties in the process, never to return home again.
Touring Vietnam in April, I was faced with the miserable reality of where many US troops were stationed, deep in the humid mosquito infested jungle with little or no support and bullets and mortar screaming toward them from out of nowhere. For the most part, there is no good place to die. For the soldiers that died at Khe Sanh, you can be sure it was pure hell. Saving Private Ryan gave one of the best dramatizations of the insanity and massive loss of life during the Normandy landing in WWII followed closely by A Thin Red Line providing an up close look of the horrors of fighting in Guadalcanal.
War has been around since the beginning of civilization, but it wasn't until the United States that a major world power used its military for primarily defensive purposes instead of conquering other nations. Because of that restraint and the world reknowned "American Dream" people on every continent look to the United States as a model for freedom and opportunity. The very existence of the United States and its Constitution gives hope to those not yet enjoying the same freedoms. Perhaps one day, their government will also be by the people for the people.
The above is not blindly condoning US foregin policy, but remembering the men and women who sacrificed their lives or their quality of life, the families who lost their loved ones and the men and women standing watch today. In fact, there have been military actions with which I disagree, most notably, the present Iraq War. But there are also men and women serving in the US armed forces who disagree with the war, but they still carry out their duties. For that I am thankful as it makes it possible for me (indirectly) to write this entry disagreeing with the government's decision to go to war. Does that make me unpatriotic?
I don't think so, but some in Washington D.C. have suggested such in their sound bite messages. Didn't the armed service personnel sacrifice their lives or limbs or mental health in the pursuit of preserving the freedom to debate openly? Isn't that truly patriotic? Isn't that what the Framers intended when they wrote the Constitution? It's a bit scary when career politicians begin to identify who is and who is not a patriot by a person's support or lack of support for a war. If competing opinions cannot be shared because it is "unpatriotic", well, then you might as well move to China because that is the same party line here, only the party is the Communist Party of the People's Republic.
Our democracy is not perfect, but it is still hanging on as the beacon of hope for those less fortunate living under oppressive regimes across the globe. And today, more than most, let us not forget those that sacrificed everything, those receiving Purple Hearts and the veterans who live with the horrors of war in their mind's eye each day. It is incumbent upon every citizen to preserve our most valued treasure, our god given, inalienable right to liberty. We must never forget from where we came and ensure that we do not stray too far off course as we may not find our way back. N'oubliez pas.
God Bless the men and women now serving in Afghanistan and Iraq, far from their families, in their fourth year of active duty in what looks to be a long drawn out engagement.
posted by Global415 at 1:28 AM
<< Home