What Was Paid for Freedom

 

Little Round Top Battlefield, Gettysburg

Copyright © 2024

Image and Text

By Ralph F. Couey

Freedom is not free.

This statement has become timeworn, perhaps even trite.  But its use, perhaps overuse, hasn’t diminished the fact that is it still absolutely fundamentally true.

In what was then colonial America, a group of restless idealists after decades of mistreatment by Britain decided that enough was enough.  After countless hours of fractious, even combative debate, together they published their intent to break from the Crown and form a new country.

This was an incredibly bold and courageous move against what was then the most powerful empire on Earth.  They were, in fact, committing treason, the punishment for which was death.  Also at risk were their families, their homes, everything they had earned and built.  The risk was enormous, but they did not hesitate.

The war resulting from that Declaration of Independence was long, brutal, and costly.  The army suffered bitter cold, hunger, and sickness.  Desertions were common.  The war was almost lost on several occasions, but for the dynamic presence of a Virginia planter named George Washington.  His inestimable qualities of leadership, strength, and tactical brilliance not only kept the army together, but allowed him to execute a series of bold, brilliant attacks that eventually drove the British out of America. 

Even after such an improbable victory, the internal struggles continued.  What kind of government would it be?  A republic with a strong central government and subordinate states, or a confederacy characterized by a weak central authority and autonomous states? Some of these questions were addressed in the Constitution, a document that took 13 more years of arguing before its initial form was finalized in 1789.  Other questions would take a costly Civil War to find the answers.

What is most wonderful about this entity we call the United States of America is that we have not yet reached our final form.  It has been a continual experiment in freedom and liberty, constrained by responsibility and accountability.  This is why the Constitution was never a final product, and would be amended time and again.  Many ideas have been tried and accepted.  Many others have been considered and cast aside.  We have made mistakes, yes.  But we have not yet, nor will we ever stop trying to get it right.  We are still today asking tough questions and seeking difficult answers.  Debates go on with the same passion as they did in that hot, humid summer of 1776.  We are still a young country when compared to the history of this world, but we will always be seeking a better way, a better life.  We continue to challenge expectations, even accepted assumptions.  We remain convinced that no matter how magnificent our achievements, we can always do better.

In my job as a tour guide aboard the USS Missouri Memorial, I talk to people from all over the world.  They have told me that what sets Americans apart is our absolute refusal to accept average.  As a culture, as a people, we are driven by excellence, and not just the hope, but the expectation that we will not only succeed in that task, but even exceed the goal.  We compete to be the best in all fields, in all endeavors.  We hate losing.  Even coming in second causes us to grumble and grind our teeth.  It has been that unrelenting drive that has resulted in our supremacy in so many fields.  Science, technology, engineering, math, bioscience, medicine and the arts.  We won the race to the moon, to Mars and the rest of the planets.  Today, Voyager I, Voyager II, and Pioneer X, three technological ambassadors, built and launched by America, have left our solar system and started their journey into the galaxy.  There, they will travel for millennia, carrying a message from humanity to intelligences far beyond that we were here, and that our restless, questing intelligence led us to the stars. 

It takes courage to challenge the unknown.  But America has never lacked that courage.  Our willingness as a country to accept that challenge comes not from government mandate.  It comes, rather, the way our nation was formed:  Of the people, By the people, and for the people.  President John Kennedy once said, “For in a democracy, every citizen, regardless of his interest in politics, 'holds office.'  Every one of us is in a position of responsibility.”  We, even we here, and those who follow us will be the ones who determine if we will continue to reach beyond the stars, or look only downward and dig our own grave.  We are a restless people.  Let us always be restless.  It will be our unwillingness to accept the present as permanent that will propel us upwards, along with the rest of humanity.  In that soaring journey, none of us can afford to sit quietly on the sidelines.

We had a granddaughter, named Zoe  who was born with a serious birth defect, missing a part of her fifth chromosome.  Now, there are 46 chromosomes in each human cell.  Cells are microscopic.  Chromosomes even tinier.  One might think that missing such an infinitesimally small thing might not be that big of a deal.  But in fact, it left her severely disabled. We lost her at the tender age of five months.

Each of us is only one of over 330 million people.  Like a chromosome within a cell, that may seem small and inconsequential.  But in a representative republic governed by the will of her people, there are no small parts, no insignificant pieces.

Nora Jones sang a song, “American Anthem,” in which were these words:

"For those who think they have nothing to share

Who fear in their hearts there is no hero there

Know each quiet act of dignity is that which fortifies

The soul of a nation that will never die."

There’s no magic wand, no Jedi hand wave which can make that happen.  It is too easy to look in the mirror and decide that we have nothing to contribute.  But each individual American is a collection of unique gifts, talents, and abilities that can spring to life in the fire of passion and possibility.  It remains to the individual to open the door and turn those gifts loose upon the world.

However, in order for this nation to live, we must decide to live together.  We have differences, yes.  But each individual has walked a separate path, a unique journey that has shaped their life and how they feel.  We don’t have to agree on everything.  But we must respect each other’s journey.  Let us instead look to those things that we have in common, that can unite, rather than divide us.  Remember those remarkable days after 9/11 when we as a nation stood together, arm in arm, shoulder to shoulder.  And remember that an America thus united cannot be defeated.

There is no better example of this than the passengers and crew of Flight 93 on that terrible day.  If you had been in the airport that morning and encountered one of them and asked later on for a description, you might have used the word “ordinary.”  As events unfolded, we know now that they were anything but ordinary.  In the face of grave danger, they decided together, stood together, and acted together.

John Wayne once said, “All battles are fought by scared men who’d rather be someplace else.”  The actions of those people on that day have been called valorous, brave, heroic.  Undoubtedly, they felt fear.  But that did not stop them.  The biggest difference, after all, between the courageous and the cowardly is how one reacts to that fear.  For some, the fear collapses into mindless, paralyzing panic.  But others embrace the realization that something needs to be done, and knowing that they can act.  I think that defines courage, the willingness to push fear aside and do what must be done.  Once again, President Kennedy: “The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it.”

We live in perilous times in a dangerous world.  The drumbeats of war, once distant and indistinct are now beating loudly.  We hear them from the west, from China and North Korea.  We hear them from the east, from Russia and Iran, and in seemingly every direction from terrorist groups all over the world.  It is a time when our greatest courage and strength is needed.  But it is also a time when we face serious divisions from within.  After 9/11 we recognized and embraced that we were Americans first, last, and foremost.  We found that unity at a moment when we truly needed it.  And we can find it again.  It was an impassioned Patrick Henry who proclaimed, “United we stand, divided we fall!  Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs." 

The future of The United States of America is completely dependent on what we choose to do today; how we choose to act, and if we choose to stand together.  This is our choice, and our responsibility.  Abraham Lincoln was speaking to congress, but his words should resonate within us during these divisive times: “Fellow citizens, we cannot escape history. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation.  We, even we here, hold the power and bear the responsibility.”

The freedoms we possess, and the freedoms we desire are completely dependent on our willingness to pay the price and endure the cost for those freedoms.  As long as that great bell of freedom rings, those clear, strong peals will be heard beyond our country, the great sound of hope for the world.

The United States of America has accomplished much in our nearly 250 years.  But before us is a future, fraught with peril; a steep, rocky and treacherous path over which we must walk, a mountain we must climb. 

Let us vow to walk together; to climb together, and together we shall stand at the summit and welcome the beautiful light, the dawning of a new day!