AMERICA: A GIVING NATION: DONALD RUMSFELD
J. Grant Swank, Jr.
"’Those who want to be free have a patient friend in the United States. The great sweep of history is for freedom.’"
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was speaking to the press on behalf of US servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan in particular. According to American Forces Press Service’s Gerry J. Gilmore, the United States continues to give its support to armed services personnel who establish liberties elsewhere.
Rumsfeld said "that when given a chance, people choose to be free."
That’s the theme daily coming from the Bush administration, Rumsfeld continuing the refrain. If Americans can enjoy daily the breath of freedom, why not do all we can to share that breath with others? That is especially imperative when realizing that there are millions still under the heel of one despot or another.
If America claims to have a Judeo-Christian heritage, which it surely does have, then that ethic calls for giving of one’s self in order to lift another’s burden. President and Mrs. George W. Bush carry forth their believing convictions in practical efforts, hence the Operation Iraqi Freedom and setting forth a democracy in Afghanistan.
As Americans continue to give forth, regardless of the thanks or lack of thanks they receive, they will remain true to their heritage. Those who would rewrite America’s history for a totally secular past are not only incorrect; they are the forever losers. Their rewriting posits a self-centered culture of the past. Of course, since we do not dwell in a perfect world, there are plenty of self-serving creatures to go around in any age. But the Judeo-Christian moral base of America’s past is definite. It is fact. When carried forth in any time tense, it helps others. It sacrifices in order to assist somebody else.
Therefore, Rumsfeld reminds the world community that Americans at the grassroots stand alongside their armed personnel abroad.
"The American people, the secretary said, ‘can be proud of the example they have set and the assistance they’ve provided’ in helping to spread freedom across the globe.
"Rumsfeld praised U.S. servicemembers’ ‘countless unheralded acts of valor and compassion’ as part of efforts to help ‘millions of liberated people build societies free of tyranny and terrorism.’"
The greatest enemy to America’s support is its own lethargy. When America forgets others, then it’s in trouble. When it becomes engrossed in entertainment culture and materialistic pastimes so as to forsake its own heritage and ethic, then it becomes dangerously ingrown.
To date, that has not happened. America is the most giving culture on the planet. It’s evident in its service organizations in every community. It’s "the American way." That carries over to its reaching out with freedom spread to other nations. And it is this earnestness that Rumsfeld praised in speaking with the media.
"Back home, Americans of all ages are providing an ‘outpouring of support’ for U.S. military efforts in the war against global terrorism, Rumsfeld pointed out. For example, the secretary noted, high school students in Dale City, Va., held a spaghetti dinner to raise money for wounded U.S. troops.
"In Nashville, Tenn., he continued, the Grand Ole Opry, the world’s longest-running live country music radio program, ‘made itself available to troops overseas through Armed Forces Radio.’ And the Freedom Calls Foundation, he noted, is using video teleconferencing to connect deployed servicemembers with loved ones back home.
"Ski resorts in Vail, Colo., Rumsfeld continued, made available 2,000 cost-free rooms for returning servicemembers as part of Operation Freedom Lodging. Also, ‘there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other moving acts’ of troop support undertaken by citizens in communities across the nation, Rumsfeld said.
"’These are but a few examples of the creativity, the resourcefulness and the compassion of the American people,’ Rumsfeld noted."
Thank you, America.
"’Those who want to be free have a patient friend in the United States. The great sweep of history is for freedom.’"
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was speaking to the press on behalf of US servicemembers in Iraq and Afghanistan in particular. According to American Forces Press Service’s Gerry J. Gilmore, the United States continues to give its support to armed services personnel who establish liberties elsewhere.
Rumsfeld said "that when given a chance, people choose to be free."
That’s the theme daily coming from the Bush administration, Rumsfeld continuing the refrain. If Americans can enjoy daily the breath of freedom, why not do all we can to share that breath with others? That is especially imperative when realizing that there are millions still under the heel of one despot or another.
If America claims to have a Judeo-Christian heritage, which it surely does have, then that ethic calls for giving of one’s self in order to lift another’s burden. President and Mrs. George W. Bush carry forth their believing convictions in practical efforts, hence the Operation Iraqi Freedom and setting forth a democracy in Afghanistan.
As Americans continue to give forth, regardless of the thanks or lack of thanks they receive, they will remain true to their heritage. Those who would rewrite America’s history for a totally secular past are not only incorrect; they are the forever losers. Their rewriting posits a self-centered culture of the past. Of course, since we do not dwell in a perfect world, there are plenty of self-serving creatures to go around in any age. But the Judeo-Christian moral base of America’s past is definite. It is fact. When carried forth in any time tense, it helps others. It sacrifices in order to assist somebody else.
Therefore, Rumsfeld reminds the world community that Americans at the grassroots stand alongside their armed personnel abroad.
"The American people, the secretary said, ‘can be proud of the example they have set and the assistance they’ve provided’ in helping to spread freedom across the globe.
"Rumsfeld praised U.S. servicemembers’ ‘countless unheralded acts of valor and compassion’ as part of efforts to help ‘millions of liberated people build societies free of tyranny and terrorism.’"
The greatest enemy to America’s support is its own lethargy. When America forgets others, then it’s in trouble. When it becomes engrossed in entertainment culture and materialistic pastimes so as to forsake its own heritage and ethic, then it becomes dangerously ingrown.
To date, that has not happened. America is the most giving culture on the planet. It’s evident in its service organizations in every community. It’s "the American way." That carries over to its reaching out with freedom spread to other nations. And it is this earnestness that Rumsfeld praised in speaking with the media.
"Back home, Americans of all ages are providing an ‘outpouring of support’ for U.S. military efforts in the war against global terrorism, Rumsfeld pointed out. For example, the secretary noted, high school students in Dale City, Va., held a spaghetti dinner to raise money for wounded U.S. troops.
"In Nashville, Tenn., he continued, the Grand Ole Opry, the world’s longest-running live country music radio program, ‘made itself available to troops overseas through Armed Forces Radio.’ And the Freedom Calls Foundation, he noted, is using video teleconferencing to connect deployed servicemembers with loved ones back home.
"Ski resorts in Vail, Colo., Rumsfeld continued, made available 2,000 cost-free rooms for returning servicemembers as part of Operation Freedom Lodging. Also, ‘there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other moving acts’ of troop support undertaken by citizens in communities across the nation, Rumsfeld said.
"’These are but a few examples of the creativity, the resourcefulness and the compassion of the American people,’ Rumsfeld noted."
Thank you, America.
<< Home