The Oath of Enlistment: What It Means
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
When a young man, or woman, decides that they want to serve their country as a soldier, sailor, airman, Coast Guardsman, or Marine, they do so for many reasons. But no matter the reasons of the individual recruit, there is one thing that unites them in everything that they will do in the uniform service to the country; The Oath of Enlistment.
It is not commonly known by the average American that when you enter the service you raise your right hand and take an oath. An oath is a very serious thing. It is more than a promise, or a contract. It is your very word. It is a statement made from your very being. To break an oath is to break faith with your own self.
The oath that every serviceman and woman takes is not to support and defend the country, nor is it to support and defend the people. The oath that is taken is to support and defend something transcendent, something larger, more dear, than the country, or The People. It is an oath to support and defend the document that gave birth to and that expanded the very ideals that this country and its people enjoy. It is the document that enunciated and enumerated all of our freedoms, rights and privileges as a nation. It is the cornerstone of this enduring experiment in democracy that has made us who and what we are as a nation. Without it, we would be just another nation among many. With it we have become something unique and special in the history of how people have been governed.
A military person takes this oath knowing that it is not just words, but that someday, it may be required of them to give their very lives in support and defense of this document. They take this with the requisite seriousness then, and countless numbers of young men and women have done so with great honor and with great sacrifice over the 237 years of our history as a nation.
On this weekend we will be celebrating another Veterans Day holiday. When you are enjoying your rest and relaxation, over the long weekend, please take a moment or two to reflect on the oath that those veterans all took and honored on our behalf. The freedoms, rights and responsibilities encompassed in the Constitution of the United States of America have been threatened in the past by "enemies foreign and domestic" and our veterans defended it with their lives. It is because of them that the hopes and dreams set down on paper in the Constitution have had the time and the security to continue to enliven the hopes and dreams of this great country.
"I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God."
When a young man, or woman, decides that they want to serve their country as a soldier, sailor, airman, Coast Guardsman, or Marine, they do so for many reasons. But no matter the reasons of the individual recruit, there is one thing that unites them in everything that they will do in the uniform service to the country; The Oath of Enlistment.
It is not commonly known by the average American that when you enter the service you raise your right hand and take an oath. An oath is a very serious thing. It is more than a promise, or a contract. It is your very word. It is a statement made from your very being. To break an oath is to break faith with your own self.
The oath that every serviceman and woman takes is not to support and defend the country, nor is it to support and defend the people. The oath that is taken is to support and defend something transcendent, something larger, more dear, than the country, or The People. It is an oath to support and defend the document that gave birth to and that expanded the very ideals that this country and its people enjoy. It is the document that enunciated and enumerated all of our freedoms, rights and privileges as a nation. It is the cornerstone of this enduring experiment in democracy that has made us who and what we are as a nation. Without it, we would be just another nation among many. With it we have become something unique and special in the history of how people have been governed.
A military person takes this oath knowing that it is not just words, but that someday, it may be required of them to give their very lives in support and defense of this document. They take this with the requisite seriousness then, and countless numbers of young men and women have done so with great honor and with great sacrifice over the 237 years of our history as a nation.
On this weekend we will be celebrating another Veterans Day holiday. When you are enjoying your rest and relaxation, over the long weekend, please take a moment or two to reflect on the oath that those veterans all took and honored on our behalf. The freedoms, rights and responsibilities encompassed in the Constitution of the United States of America have been threatened in the past by "enemies foreign and domestic" and our veterans defended it with their lives. It is because of them that the hopes and dreams set down on paper in the Constitution have had the time and the security to continue to enliven the hopes and dreams of this great country.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.