Sexism, Doubt and What We Are All About
Keith Nightingale
Here are two images that depict far better than any writing what our Nation and our people are all about. We are daily informed of the ills and errors of our society and our inability to get things done and the impending doom on the horizon be it global warming, political extremism or ISIS in our alleyways. I suggest we do not despair but believe in who we are and what we are and have complete confidence that as a Nation we are the best of all the rest and always will be. The images tell us that.
The first is a female amputee veteran-Kendra Coleman. She was not Infantry but she was a combatant and well represents the several hundred females that have lost limbs in our uniform.
Over time, she and other sisters each made a choice to put on a uniform and to go where she was told to go and do what needed to be done. None of them may have known each other but she and they are all in the family of those that served.
For a moment in that service, her life and body was sacrificed in a cause greater than herself. She and others lost part of themselves forever but they also gained something they never otherwise would have had in the quantity bestowed. Pride, self-respect, optimism and personal honor exudes from the image. Her smile is infectious, generous and unforced. She smiles from within and ignores the without. In a brief and shattering instant she had a life altering moment. But like most Americans, she absorbed the bad and consumed it with the greater benefits she now enjoys. She knows she has done something few others have done and retains a deep sense of pride, purpose and service that only combat can impart. This will live with her forever.
The uniform no longer is worn but the spirit gained is eternal. She will work harder, do better and demand more-she has richly earned the privilege to make demands that others would shirk or subjugate. She is an example for the many that will follow in her now truncated steps and serve as the torch bearer for her sisters and future sisters in arms. The merits of a specific MOS can be argued interminably but her service requires no discussion. Whatever job she performed, it set a standard and dedication was never lacking.
The second image is representative of our traditional military service. This is an entire Airborne Battalion Combat Team. It could just as easily be one of straight Infantry, an armor battalion, a Marine TF or an artillery unit. It is more than 600 uniformed souls brought together by chance and fortune to do whatever is asked when the President asks. They will and have gone to faraway places, done many things and brought honor to the uniform. They are the American fighting man. They have never faltered, never failed and never will. Above all else, they persevere and prevail. Higher leadership may be lacking, resources may be small and missions ambiguous. But because they are American’s, each of these faces will understand with great clarity what has to be done in his small world and despite external distractors will do it or die trying-as many have proven.
As with the female soldiers, the males are now all of the same family and brotherhood of arms. Their colors, ethnicity, religious, political, social and economic circumstances are subjugated to the needs of the immediate family to the point of death. Together, they can quickly become an insurmountable tide to the enemy and a merciless instrument of destruction or bountiful goodwill. But above all else, they harbor Pride and Honor in all they do. Their sisters are now the same. Collectively, they are truly one family forever joined by shared experiences and the cemented bonding that only combat may bring. The tasks may be different but the outcome is the same. Both emerge as far different people than when they first raised their right arm and swore service.
Our enemies should contemplate these images because they represent our bottomless well of population that simply awaits proper orders and reasonable direction. In each heart resides a bayonet willing to be drawn. These images show why we have always prevailed on the battlefield and always will. If for any reason we falter, it will not be because of them.