Of Honor, Sacrifice, and Thanksgiving

Real heroes sacrifice everything; phony ones call them names.

As impossible as it seems, 2023 has flown by, and we find ourselves again in the Holiday Season. Across the land, dining room tables were crowded with the dishes of the season, and everyone around those tables expressed their gratitude for things great and small.

Last week, I had the opportunity to express my gratitude. I was honored to attend a US Navy Change of Command ceremony, a remarkable event that was simultaneously joyous and solemn. A serious ceremony in the best of times, this one honored lives lost and was all the more touching with two Gold Star widows in attendance. These young—far, far too young—women lost husbands who were attending to the nation’s most critical business, our national defense.

We must be very clear here: our lost protectors were not the “losers” or “suckers” of Donald Trump’s twisted funhouse-mirror reckoning. In actual fact, they were and are real heroes. The ceremony was a stark reminder that the most basic aspect of heroism is sacrifice.

It was joyous, too, as it commemorated a two-year series of deployments, wherein these incredibly brave young men and women faced the ultimate sacrifice every day, and came home having fulfilled their mission with quiet dignity. Joyous as well because after heralding a job well done by the outgoing commander, a new commander was stepping up. It was the end of one chapter and the beginning of another, and beginnings should always be joyous.

Sitting in the midst of this small gathering of friends and relatives who had come to honor sacrifice and count their lucky stars—grateful that their Stars weren’t Gold—it was impossible not to be reminded of the Gold Star parents who in 2016 fairly screamed at candidate Donald Trump, whose malignant narcissism won’t allow him to feel empathy for others. Trump had infamously disparaged them, their son, and all members of the armed forces with the callous “losers” remark. The Gold Star parent, Khizr Khan, who had lost his son, a captain in the US Army, in 2004 in Iraq, confronted this lack of empathy, saying, “You have sacrificed nothing and no one.”

It also brought to mind Tommy Tuberville, the exalted (there is no better word when describing how fans relate to SEC coaches) Auburn football coach-cum-senator, who stands alone and in the way of senior military promotions, and who, regardless of his protestations to the contrary, is hampering morale and readiness by standing against an abortion policy over which these officers have no sway.

If you think that political interference in the military is without consequence, just look at Israel, where a full year of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s efforts to keep himself out of prison by stealing power from the judiciary has riven the country so completely that the chasm extends to the Israeli Defense Forces, many of whom joined the ongoing protests, and told The Times of Israel that they would not fight for a dictator. Even before the dust settles from the war with Hamas, it is clear that the divisions wrought by Bibi and his Rogues’ Gallery cabinet that the Supreme Court would veto, had a profound effect on Israeli readiness in advance of the October 7^th incursion, subsequent barbaric massacre, rapes, and hostage-taking.

Just as there are said to be no atheists in foxholes, neither are their Democrats or Republicans. There’s no time for partisanship, and no time to spew accusations and hate at one another. I’d be thankful for a cooling off of the hateful rhetoric, and a new unity of purpose as we tackle the problems of a country and a world aflame. I think most of us acknowledge that America was built on a two-party system where both parties engage in the act of governing. The party in power needs a loyal opposition and vice versa. So, it’s been stunning to me to hear constantly about how the right-wing hates Democrats.

Here’s a little homework assignment. Go talk with a Republican who subscribes to this divisive rhetoric, and ask them to tell you specifically what it is about Democrats that they find to be so threatening to democracy. Could it be Democrats’ adherence to the rule of law, or the idea that no man is above the law? Might it simply be projection?

There’s a pastor around here who frequently veers into politics. He’s famous for saying that “the next Civil War won’t be North versus South, but Americans versus Democrats.” (How this guy keeps his IRS exemption as a nonprofit when his church actively trains and endorses candidates, a definitive no-no in the world of 501(c)(3)’s, is absolutely beyond me.)

As I ponder the things I’m thankful for, our Gold Star families will top the list.

As for Donald Trump, I’m sure he’s thankful for not being in prison…yet.

©2023 Jon Sinton