Chuck and Lynn, I suspect you might resonate to this:
The oath that we all took upon entering service, had these words: "...do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;..."
There's nothing in that oath that says we can't disagree, in fact, the Constitution gives us that right. We defend this "ideal" against all enemies. This seems to be our entire focus in the military - to defend an ideal, a way of life, the one we hold dear. We go to war to protect this ideal.
This is one reason I have never been able to feel great animosity towards Jane Fonda, for what she has been accused of doing in Hanoi. Her disagreement, and her right to voice that disagreement is a right that is guaranteed by the ideal we are sworn to support and defend.
It's also kind of sobering, isn't it, that the oath the President takes has essentially the same words?
You might guess that I've given these thoughts some time over the years.
- Jack
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