Silent Meanings

Bloodshed, gunshots and screams.

These words always seem to come to mind when it comes to military and war. However, there are a few important terms that always seem to be overlooked. They would be overlooked because most people think of the most horrid things when it comes to war. The words that most people don’t think of are honor, bravery, and love. These strong, meaningful words show that there is pride in serving for our military.

How does one show that they have honor? Walter Lippmann says “He has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so.” This saying interlaces honor with the pride of serving in the military because soldiers face their fears on the battle field. Besides stomping on their fears, soldiers also show honor by the way they carry themselves. When a soldier pulls on his uniform, he seems to be covered in honor and self-respect. This bit of confidence causes the soldiers to hold their head higher, and to give off vibes drenched in honor to those surrounding them. This causes others to be respectful of the soldiers and feel honored to be related to them, or to even be acquainted with them. Honor plays a big role in whether or not there is pride in serving the military.

Honor isn’t the only contribution to the pride of serving, however; bravery goes hand in hand with it also. There are many different opinions of what bravery could mean though. For instance, Omar Bradley states that “Bravery is the capacity to perform properly even when scared half to death.” What Bradley says shows how most soldiers probably feel during battle. The soldiers would appear completely in control, fearless and secure on the outside. On the inside, however, they could have knots in their stomach tightening and clenching until they feel faint. The tough exterior may seem like only a cover up of how they truly feel, and some people might call the men and women fighting for our country cowards. The reality is though, it takes more guts and courage to swallow your fear and spit the fear back towards your enemy with gunfire than it does to do otherwise.

Bravery and honor appear to be the missing pieces to the puzzle that is the pride of serving in our military. There is one final word, however, that doesn’t seem to fit but still plays a big role. When discussing the term love, Voltaire says “Our country is that spot to which our heart is bound.” The soldiers fighting on foreign soil are being brave and honorable, but the love for their country puts the passion behind their will to fight. Most would think of love being only for a human being, such as family or a spouse. The fact of the matter is, a love for one’s country can cause great determination for winning the freedom that they believe their country deserves. Soldiers have an unthinkable amount of love for the United States. They show it when they pull their uniforms on, when they walk out into the weather conditions and when they look forward, head held high, ready to defend their homeland.

When I think about our men and women serving the military, of course the words blood shed, gunshots, and screaming are going to come flying across my mind. There are going to be new words, however, that will crush the words before I even fathom what they are. Honor and its perfect description of how a soldier should feel each and every day for fighting for our country would step all over the fear of bloodshed. Bravery, vividly describing how even at the most drastic of times soldiers can be strong and block out the thoughts of gunshots and the pain that could come. Finally, the word love will come and crush the thought of letting out any kind of fear-drenched screams because the soldiers have determination and passion to back up their attacks on the enemy. So, when asked about if there is pride in the military, I would rather let the soldier’s silent meaning to their actions answer than my own.