To the Editor, The Times:
As I read the articles in The Pendleton Times from May 28, I was particularly struck by the article concerning Memorial Day remembrance.
We have much to be proud of in this country and much honor to give to those who have sacrificed, and in many cases given “their last full measure of devotion”.
There was, however, no mention of the reasons these brave young men and women sacrificed so much. Here in Franklin, we know some of their names as we walk down Main Street and see their names and pictures on our lamp posts.
I remember my time in the military and how as I joined the army and signed my oath to defend the Constitution, I thought about what I was committing to, remembering that my father, my aunt and my uncle had made this same commitment. My father serving in the Pacific, my uncle being part of the D-Day invasion, and my aunt in the Coast Guard off the coast of the Hawaiian islands.
I felt like part of a chain of our history, each link of which strengthens the great enterprise of democratic, representative self-government.
Throughout our history, we have committed to uphold our Constitution. That means upholding the whole framework: freedom of speech, due process, equal protection under the law, civil liberties, separation of powers, all of it, the culmination of human thought through the ages on how to govern ourselves for the common good.
This is what our servicemen and women honor and defend. This essential piece is what I felt was missing from the article. As we gather this summer to celebrate 250 years of working together on this great effort, I hope we will recommit to it, each one: read our founding documents, think about what it means to be an American, and participate in our collective governance.
And while the Constitution prohibits our government from endorsing any religion or imposing any religious test, it gives us liberty always to ask that “God bless America.”
J King Seegar
