“Duty, Honor,
Country: Those three hallowed words reverently dictate what you ought to
be, what you can be, what you will be. They are your rallying points: to build
courage when courage seems to fail; to regain faith when there seems to be
little cause for faith; to create hope when hope becomes forlorn.”
So began General
Douglas MacArthur’s speech to the corps of cadets at West Point, 12 May, 1962
upon accepting the Thayer Award, an
annual tribute to outstanding citizens of the United States.
Duty, Honor, Country. The motto of West Point, the academy that
produces the leaders of the U.S. Army, many of whom have fought to protect us
in Iraq, Afghanistan & other, unnamed places that will never appear in the
newspapers or cable news broadcasts.
We expect our warfighters to exemplify the
best ideals of our country. We expect
our soldiers to conduct themselves with bravery, compassion, and courage
wherever they deploy. We expect the
best from them and we receive it from every member.
However, today we do not honor
just our service members. Today we
honor the ordinary citizens who took on the burden normally associated with our
soldiers fighting in combat zones half a world away.
Duty. Honor. Country. These ideals were held high by the police
officers, the firefighters, the airline passengers, the secretaries, the cab
drivers… the ordinary citizens who found themselves in the combat zone that was
New York; that was Washington D.C.; that was a hijacked 757, high above the
green fields of Pennsylvania. Courage
came when courage seemed to fail; faith was regained when there seemed to be
little cause for faith; hope was created when hope appeared forlorn.
They didn’t ask for it. They didn’t seek it out. But, when the time came they responded. Not with trumpets blaring or drums beating,
they responded without thought for themselves but for their fellow citizens,
their fellow Americans. They went into
the burning buildings, seeking out those who were trapped. They went into the flames of the Pentagon,
bringing out those that were too injured to move on their own. They counter-attacked in the air, knowing
their chances were slim to take back the aircraft, and saved countless lives in
the Capitol. Duty, Honor, Country. They
were the finest among us.
The list is too long to reproduce here so I
will honor them with the words of President Lincoln, spoken 148 years ago, in
Gettysburg, but just as applicable to the fallen of 9/11 today.
“…But, in a larger sense, we can not
dedicate - we can not consecrate - we can not hallow - this ground. The brave
men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our
poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember
what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. 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. It is rather for us to be here
dedicated to the great task remaining before us - 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.”
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