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Veterans Values I
An address delivered by The Reverend Don W. Vaughn-Foerster
At The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Grand Traverse
November 14, 2004

This morning is the first time in my life that I have said anything in a public setting about my military experience. And, I am doing it somewhat reluctantly now because I believe too much is made about the military in our society. In the minds of too many people it's almost as if the United States has no history except the wars and battles it has fought -- as if force of arms, rather than striving for human excellence, is what makes a mighty nation. But, this service is dedicated to the values that are generated or confirmed in veterans and my time in the Marine Corps certainly did affect and confirm some of my values. In fact, there are two values in particular that my military experience reinforced, which I wish had been more reinforced in the other members of units in which I served. This, I don't mind talking about.

Different people have different experiences in the military, but one primary experience comes through to nearly all of them. It is an experience that, in one way, produces obedience -- usually unquestioning obedience. However, in another way, it underlines the value of team work or unity. Unity is, probably, the better word to describe what the military is after. No matter the word used, the idea is that the group to which you belong must act as if with one mind, and this, of necessity, means the mind of the officer or noncommissioned officer in charge. This was intensely hammered into me by my superiors, and, as an NCO, I did my own hammering into those of lesser rank. 
But, in spite of all the "hammering", unity was not easily achieved. After all, in any military unit in which I served, there were people of at least disparate (if not antagonistic) personal values. There were Blacks and Whites and Hispanics and Orientals. There were the narrow-minded and the broad-minded; the freethinking and the non-thinking. There were both white and blue collar people. In my boot camp platoon there were those who could read and those who could not. There were the loudmouthed and the quiet, the aggressive and the passive, the friendly and the antagonistic. 

The point is that unity had to be attained by a group of disparate, contradictory and contradicting young men (and now women, also) and unity was attained more often than not and on a fairly regular basis. The drill instructors I met knew how to whip such a conglomeration into a unit. 

This was done on a useful, albeit somewhat superficial level, but it taught me a profound lesson early in my life. It taught me that unity which really matters is that which binds persons together in a common cause without violating or demeaning their personal integrity. It taught me that there clearly are some things for which persons of different background and different character and abilities can come together and work. It taught me that my country does have a proper call on my service and my cooperation. 

After I thought about this for a while, I came to see that both of the two main values I had confirmed by my service in the military require me to fulfill my civic duty as a citizen of the United States of America. And, that duty, of course, is to be responsible to and for the rule of law as established by the social contract manifested by the U.S. Constitution. In this country we are not subjects of a king or a dictator or a totalitarian oligarchy, no matter how some persons would like to treat us as such. We are citizens of a system built on a balance of legislative, administrative, and judicial powers in government and based on natural human rights. These rights are stated in our constitution and our civic duty is to see that they are preserved. 

To me this means that the reason to serve in the military is neither to serve the flag with blind allegiance nor to follow orders just because some people have the authority to give them but to follow orders consistent with our constitution. There are both legal and illegal orders and we have the responsibility to know the difference -- as Abu Grahib demonstrates. The first of my two main values, then, is the protection and preservation of our constitutional system. It is to do my utmost to see that the government of laws and not of men is preserved and strengthened. I doubt that most of the men in the units in which I served understood this the way I did -- and do. 

The other value that my time in the military confirmed for me is that diversity itself is to be respected and defended. This value goes hand in hand with protecting the constitution because the U.S. Constitution itself promotes and defends diversity. The Bill of Rights clearly affirms that people are diverse. They are different and have the right to be different. It also assumes that, in their differences and diversity, they have the obligation to protect their mutual rights to differences and diversity. 

One of the hard truths I learned in the Marine Corps was that even though there were people in the same unit with me that I did not like and had trouble getting along with, I could not survive myself unless we found common cause together. We had to defend and protect one another for our mutual self interest. Fundamentally, our ultimate commitment to our country requires an ultimate commitment to one another. This is as much true of civilian life as it is of the military. To have such a commitment means that, not just in time of war but also as a responsible citizen, one is responsible to protect the rights of others -- even those who disagree with you. However, a reality (that I learned through hard experience) is that if the other person is not as committed to your safety as you are to his, the whole system tends to come apart. 

So, these two things, the U.S. Constitution and the diversity it promotes and protects, are of ultimate importance to me as a citizen of the United States. To value them is, to me, the highest patriotism. To value them means we must keep working for a unity in diversity in this country that at times seems flimsy but always is somewhere within reach. 

Given these two values, I can sing "The Star Spangled Banner" as lustily as the most unthinking chauvinist. The difference is that my commitment is not to the fighting of wars that our leaders decide to fight in order to advance "The American Way of Life" in the world or to protect their own commercial interests. My commitment is to defend and preserve the constitution that makes that way of life possible. My great hope is that someday this song will stand more for our national principles than for our national self interests.

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