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It was late in 1993, and although I was no longer active duty military, this story of bravery was especially poignant to me because Michael Durant and I were contemporaries in the small world of Army Aviation pilots.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?
The Founders Tavern 