Why a Memorial Day

It was a hot Sunday afternoon in Mogadishu, Somalia and Michael Durant lay with a crushed spine and broken femur in the wreckage of his Blackhawk helicopter, waiting for death. Then, out of the smoke and haze of combat, two Delta force soldiers appeared. They moved Durant out of the cockpit and what was shortly to become a free fire zone to a protected position nearby. They handed him a weapon, wished him “good luck,” and then gave their lives in his defense.

When I first heard the story I was amazed at the bravery of these two men who, against the advice of their command, repeatedly requested insertion into the crash site to defend the survivors – knowing, as apparently did the command staff, that it was probably a suicide mission.

It was late in 1993, and although I was no longer active duty military, this story of bravery was especially poignant to me because Michael Durant and I were contemporaries in the small world of Army Aviation pilots. We graduated flight school less than a year apart and although I was (by then) off active duty and flying for the National Guard and the Maryland State Police, Durant had stayed on active duty. That day, he was in Mogadishu, fighting to help locate and control the warlords who were destroying the country and causing a prolonged famine in Somalia. More than 300,000 Somalis had already perished.

But my reverence for Memorial Day did not begin in 1993.

I was raised in a family that honored America’s heroes, even at a time when veterans returning home might be spit upon in the streets to make political hay for those protesting the war.

Then, while I was still in junior high, the brother of one of my best friends was killed in Vietnam.  For weeks the community was draped in the darkness of mourning – families and friends coming to grips with the horrible knowledge that this vibrant young man would never return home, never marry, never have children, and never enjoy the very fruits of his sacrifice.

Even today, many years later, his silent voice speaks volumes to me from the grave about the cost of liberty. How could I possibly remain silent in defense of the Constitutional principles he fought and died for?

It is not wrong to enjoy the fruits of their sacrifice. George Washington, writing to a Jewish synagogue said, “May the children of the stock of Abraham who dwell in this land continue to merit and enjoy the goodwill of the other inhabitants, while everyone shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid.”

I just hope this last Memorial Day, as we sat under our own vine and fig trees, we thought how the safety of our synagogues, our churches and even our family picnic tables is due, at least in part, to the sacrifice of those special patriots we memorialized Monday.

I love Memorial Day. I love the sales, the cook-outs, the parades and all the opening summer activities heralded by the event. But most importantly, each Memorial Day, I love to take a little time to strengthen my resolve to give voice to the principles our heroes died for.

In perhaps the greatest memorial speech ever given, Abraham Lincoln said:

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced … that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion — that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

The battle for liberty is never completely won and will always require the blood of heroes.

Those two Delta Force snipers who gave their lives that day in Mogadishu were Sergeant First Class Randall Shughart and Master Sergeant Gary Gordon. For their sacrifice their families accepted Medals of Honor on their behalf, our nation’s highest award. More important for us, however, is the legacy they left behind – a legacy that lives in the hearts of all true Americans and speaks to us today from the grave – if we will but listen.

That’s where I stand – what do you think?

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The tree hugger in me

Long before I began writing this column I was an outdoors writer telling stories of hiking and back woods adventures. To this day the focus of my best work is always on nature, conservation and the organizations dedicated to maintaining our natural heritage.

Yet, like so many other conservatives, I trash my invitation to join Sierra Club every year when I get it in the mail and I shy away from joining most national environmental political causes. Isn’t it strange that so many farmers, hunters, fishermen and others that live and work closest to nature, so often leave the politics of nature for the city dwellers to figure out?

And just how did the radicals make environmental issues their exclusive domain and then convince the rest of us to keep out? It wasn’t always that way. Actually, many of the most influential conservationists in history have been either Republicans, conservatives, or both.

Theodore Roosevelt, the nation’s 26th President, considered by many to be the father of the conservationist movement in America was both a Republican and conservative when he formed the United States Forestry Service and then helped establish five national parks, four national monuments and protected a large portion of the Grand Canyon.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was formed by executive order under Richard Nixon – and only later confirmed by Congress.

It was George H. W. Bush that signed what many have described as the most effective environmental statute ever enacted – the Clean Air Amendments of 1990.

Conservation used to be a bi-partisan issue.

Who would you guess said this:

There is an absolute necessity of waging all-out war against the debauching of the environment, the bulldozer mentality. The past is a luxury we can no longer afford. Our roads and other public projects must be planned to prevent the destruction of scenic resources and to avoid needlessly upsetting the ecological balance.

It was Ronald Reagan.

Barry Goldwater was a long-term member of the Sierra Club, yet today, John McCain (one of the chief cosponsors of the Endangered Species Act) would be crucified by his own party for joining.

Why is that?

The problem is that the far left has hijacked the environmentalist movement and made it practically impossible for clear thinking and reasonable people to join in. It has become a false religion where the organization and obedience to dogma is supreme to the cause.

Comments from environmentalists like Al Gore who in Earth in the Balance described our civilization as “deeply dysfunctional” and called for a “wrenching transformation,” is just one example of why clear thinking conservatives can’t bear to join the global warming band wagon. Any reasonable discussion of the facts of global warming, fracking, or how to protect the environment of the spotted owl gets you labeled a heretic, a flat earther or a bigot (if it happens to be one of Obama’s environmental policies).

American hunters, fishermen and outdoor enthusiasts are too often demonized by the organizations that, at least on the surface, seem to have similar goals. And too many conservatives ignore important environmental issues for fear of being labeled tree-huggers or environmentalist wackos from their own political allies.

This is a big problem because there are important environmental issues that need to be addressed.

It is this “agree with our extreme views or stay home” attitude that has dropped American’s concern for the environment down to eighth place on a recent Pew poll measuring the top political concerns of Americans.

Perhaps we need to replace those national and international groups, those that put the health of their organization above the health of the environment, with grassroots groups found out here where the trail tire actually meet the fire road – groups that are actually making a difference.

Groups like the Natural Bridge Appalachian Trail Club spends countless hours repairing and caring for the national treasure that is the AT. Boy Scouts clear and maintain hundreds of trails and participate regularly in environmental and conservation projects. The Rockbridge Area Conservation Council recently organized the 20^th annual Rockbridge area community cleanup. And then there are the endless service projects by student from Southern Virginia University, Washington and Lee, and VMI.

Environmental progress should not be held hostage to partisan bickering. We need to follow the old saying of think globally and act locally – the exact opposite of current political trends. After all, the environment is too important to be left in the care of radical environmentalists.

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