Properly Honoring the Fallen Requires Faith to Understand the Heart of Sacrifice

We are descended from lions who believed the cause of liberty was worth every price they paid. When we pass those values down, we will be on track to inherit a freer future.

Memorial Day conjures up many emotions in the hearts of veterans. It’s weird to hear “Happy Memorial Day,” because it’s not a happy day. The jovial, upbeat day people have in mind is Independence Day, not today’s day of remembrance and reflection upon the lives our nation has lost in combat.

Thanks to internet access and a variety of opinions from one end of cyberspace to the other, as well as real-world experience, most veterans from the Vietnam era to present look upon those lives lost in the last 60 years as lost in vain, taken too soon from us by the efforts of the war lobby and repeated lies to justify sending men and women into harm’s way.

I’ve learned to look past the useless wars and honor those who gave their lives for what they believed to be true, even if true meant their battle buddies in the formation standing to one side or the other. There is no place on earth, perhaps with the exception of Normandy (where I’ve never been), better for inspiring awestruck wonder than Arlington National Cemetery, where my Dad is at rest. It was there, two years ago, where I came across the grave of Lieutenant Commander Jason Price and gained valuable wisdom I’ll remember forever:

Nothing great comes from comfort zones.

After writing about Commander Price, I heard from his mother that he was a true to life super hero who once rescued someone from a burning vehicle. Nearly everyone who suited up post 9/11, which represents my generation of service members, did so believing the country was worth the investment, and we didn’t do it because we swore an oath to any party or person. We swore our allegiance to the Constitution of the United States, which I still stand for today.

My father, whom I visit frequently, swore that same oath and passed that love of country and belief in sacrifice to his children. Three of us served, and a grandson still wears the uniform. I’ve come to understand that while my father survived his three tours in Vietnam, he never really came all the way home. Part of him remained in those jungles, and reconciling my own demons has allowed me to accept, forgive, move on, and strengthen myself where I now know I am weak. Many of you reading this piece today may have sons or daughters who are alive today in the flesh, but walled off from you because of the traumas only they or others like them can understand.

Honor and remember them today, too.

The practice of honoring our war dead requires one to dig deep and find that faith again – the one that said, “no matter what, the fight for freedom is worthwhile, worth sacrificing for, and worth giving my life for.” You see, not every war Americans have fought has been a deep state-driven war of profiteering and global domination. Turning 40 has given me perspective in which I am not an old man, but neither am I a particularly young one. I would be three years from being able to retire had I not left the service in 2013, a Lieutenant Colonel and probably handling a desk job somewhere in Washington, D.C.

We are blessed to live in a country full of heroes, but I’m not sure we can fully grasp the fortitude of a man named Captain Nathan Hale. His faith and belief in the mission of freedom and liberty is unparalleled in my view, and he is one of the very first we honor when we think Memorial Day. General George Washington had asked Hale, only 21 years old, to gather intelligence on the British in New York. Hale was caught, and before being hanged as a spy, said these immortal words:

I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country.

Do we love the promise of freedom and liberty as much as Hale did in his short life? Part of me believes we have it too easy in this country with no real thirst for throwing off oppression. This was not the case with Hale, whose maturity and courage at such a young age is alone the stuff of legend. Here’s what I looked like when I was 21:

I was a man, technically, but still a kid, holding the instruments of a kid’s game and making my way through college. I hadn’t even yet enrolled in Army ROTC to begin the process of becoming an officer like Hale.

When I think 21, I think of my new stepson, Carter. He hates smart phones and devices, thinks he’s wasting his time in college, and is a man in a world of boys – the type that would have come off the Higgins boats onto Omaha Beach under a hailstorm of lead. As much as I admire him, I can’t imagine him standing in front of members of the most powerful military force in the world, and offered a chance to repent, spitting in their faces and saying he’d do it all over again, every time he was given a life to sacrifice:

When people ask me why I believe in the Gospel of Christ, my favorite example is that of the disciples. John was heavily persecuted and exiled, and all the others died as martyrs. They were given the chance to recant their testimonies, but having lived alongside Christ and seen his works and miracles, knew he was the way, truth, and life. Had Christ been a phony, they could have recanted, bent the knee, and been allowed to live because they would have been useful tools for suppressing the coming growth of Christ’s church.

Men like Nathan Hale believed in a greatness that had not yet been realized, and considered it worth dying for. There were no spectacular fireworks displays, American monuments, Super Bowls, glorious conquests to pin these beliefs on, or a coast-to-coast empire – only the belief that freedom is rare, isn’t passed along in the bloodstream, and must be defended at all costs.

Freedom and liberty aren’t the status quo throughout the world, which is littered with conflict, poverty, oppression, and tyranny. If they were easy to maintain, every people group on earth would prosper. Those who prosper are those who sacrifice, remember, and honor, and commit to fighting the glorious cause every day with every breath given.

We come from a nation of heroes – men like Nathan Hale – and because of their faith in the freedoms handed down to us, have the hope that we too can begin this new bloodline of freedom with our own actions in the face of a world that tells you things are good enough.

Remember the fallen – they led with full hearts.

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Seth Keshel, MBA, is a former Army Captain of Military Intelligence and Afghanistan veteran. His analytical method of election forecasting and analytics is known worldwide, and he has been commended by President Donald J. Trump for his work in the field.