Memorializations and commitments
A pledge for those of us who are serious about valuing the lives of our neighbors, friends, family members, and fellow Americans who are in military service for our country.
On the last Monday in May, the U.S. recognizes a federal holiday honoring those who have died while in military service. The history of Memorial Day has roots in post-Civil War honoring of soldiers who died in the fight to end human enslavement, and in post World War I decoration of the gravesites of soldiers who died in the “war to end all wars.”
And yet here we are, over a century later actively engaged in yet another war with no clear purpose or end in sight.
So I drafted a pledge for us to take if we are serious about valuing the lives of those who are in military service for our country.
I pledge to do all within my power to support, ensure, and demand peaceful resolutions of national and international conflicts.
I pledge to vote for candidates who explicitly reject the violence of war as a legitimate policy option.
I pledge to devote time and treasure to caring for those left behind when a person in service to our country loses their life.
I pledge to reject any and all glorification of war and war crimes as godly, holy, or just, and to speak loudly the truth that violence of any kind is a failure of leadership.
I pledge to remind elected representatives and military leaders that they have a duty of care toward those in the services, that soldiers, sailors, flyers, and all who support them are full human beings, who should never have their lives treated as statistics or their bodies as cannon (or drone) fodder.
I pledge to insist that any elected or appointed representatives who do not uphold their duty of care, who enter our nation’s forces into unjust, illegal wars of choice, who issue illegal orders, and/or threaten or commit war crimes, be held publicly accountable for such acts, to the full extent of the law.
These are the things we should remember on a day we honor the sacrifices of service members, and the pledges we must commit ourselves to uphold if we want to prevent the squandering of their lives.
Be safe and well.
