Gettysburg: Its Timeless Lesson of Duty
*****************************************************************************
As the country soul-searches over conscientious-objectors like Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden, Confederate and Union soldiers provide a great example of serving country
*****************************************************************************
This week marks the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War’s Battle of Gettysburg.
The battle was spread over 3 days and various parts of a large battlefield and saw extraordinary courage, as was common in that and many other American military endeavors.
In Day 2 of the battle, Union troops, out of ammunition, successfully defended their position on a hill called Little Round Top with the ultimate act of desperation: a bayonet charge. On day 3, Confederate troops charged up an incline in which they were completely exposed to cannon and rifle fire. As fraught with danger and potential death, few on either side questioned their command. They were there to serve and they did, many sacrificing their lives in such service. The sense of duty was so strong that even most Confederate soldiers who were to partake in the foreseeably doomed Pickett’s Charge could not fathom doing anything other than following orders. They had their doubts about the decision made by the seemingly invincible Robert E. Lee but they knew that the only course of action was to follow his orders. History and God would ultimately judge the wisdom of such decision, not his troops on that day.
The boys at Gettysburg, Confederate and Union, came to perform their duty and left larger policy decisions to those above them
________________________________
Such has resonance given recent events in which United States Army soldier Bradley Manning passed classified Iraq War material to the gadfly website WikiLeaks and former government consultant Edward Snowden disclosed its activities of surveillance . Both claimed they did such in disagreement and protest over how their government was acting.
Fair enough. Few other pages than this one get more dyspeptic over the typical conduct and intrusiveness of modern government. Everything from over-regulation to taxation to revenue-obsession to the occassional scandal like that with the Internal Revenue Service regarding tax-exempt organizations give credence to a healthy skepticism of Uncle Sam and his state and local underlings.
But there is a right and wrong way to do things, especially when dealing with national defense. Mssrs. Manning and Snowden not only made high-impact decisions without having the full picture, but they acted in such a manner that could least constructively deal with their concerns. Wikileaks and the world media, no matter how influential, would only amplify the debate and not actually change policy of the U.S. government. They would’ve gotten far more results with less downside had they gone the official whistle-blower route. After all, there is always a politically ambitious congressman who will listen to and expound upon a potential government scandal.
The rebellious great singer Bruce Springsteen said “Blind faith in your leaders, or in anything, will get you killed.” Perhaps true, on occasion. But blind defiance of your leaders, like Mr. Manning and Snowden have, can cause an equally high mortality rate for both individual and country, especially now in the death-struggle that western civilization has with Islamo-fascism.
The boys at Gettysburg 150 years ago would likely agree and it is hard to do better than them.
-I.M. Windee
