Monday, November 14, 2011

Why do we need liberty?

It was 1995 and I was a 2nd Lieutenant of Marines involved in an Amphibious Logistics exercise in Virginia Beach, Virginia. We were held captive to the base we were on and we were not able to execute the exercise because of the sea state. The Colonel in charge of the exercise was the commanding officer of the Sixth Marine Regiment whose name escapes me, a tall humorless robot of a man. After being stuck out there for a week without anything to do, the wing officer with us at the time asked the Colonel if we could have some liberty out in town. The Colonel coldly responded, "Why do we need liberty? If someone can give me a good reason why you need liberty than you can have it?"

Well Colonel, you were in the Marines for over twenty years, defending the Constitution of the United States and you were asking why we need liberty? Why do you think you should be allowed to enjoy the fruits of liberty when you are willing to give up your men's liberty because one of them got drunk on liberty and embarrassed you and you might not pick up general? Which I'm sure you didn't anyway. Thank God Thomas Jefferson didn't ask that question. Thank God Ben Franklin didn't ask that question. And thank God, George Washington who suffered through years of hell as a commander believed that we need liberty, and NEVER asked that question. Colonel, you have no right to the privilege of being an officer of Marines for not knowing why we need liberty.

So,as you sit there in your taxpayer funded home, where ever you are Colonel let me clue you in: people risk their lives by the thousands every year to swim, stagger, and crawl bleeding to the United States so they can have liberty. Ask them why they need liberty.

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