“Great military expenditures do not make a nation strong. Sophisticated technology does not make a nation impregnable. A weighty and deceptive military bureaucracy does not make a nation secure. These did not make France secure -- they do not make America secure now.”
Our Quote of the Week questions what makes a nation secure. Even in the face of conflict, it implies that our ultimate goal must always be showing restraint and making peace.
Over the next few days, we are marking both Veterans’ Day (Nov. 11) and the 109th anniversary of Sargent Shriver’s birth (Nov. 9). Sargent Shriver, a World War II veteran, understood the horrors of war all too well. As a young person in the 1930s, he lived in Germany as part of the Experiment in International Living and witnessed the oppression of the increasingly powerful Nazi regime first-hand. Then, in 1941, he enlisted in the US Navy and fought in the Battle of Guadalcanal, losing half his shipmates in one blow and incurring injuries that would earn him a Purple Heart.
Sargent Shriver gave the speech that we have chosen this week, “The Military Tradition”, in 1972 while he was campaigning for Vice President on the George McGovern ticket. Shriver describes the issues that were plaguing the military at the time, and he provides a vision for restoring “the military tradition.” Some of what he describes is specific to the era, particularly the details about the war in Vietnam. Much of what he says, however, continues to be applicable today. He talks about the mental and physical fatigue of troops who were forced to continue to fight in a “dirty war,” and of the bureaucracy and “failure of civilian leadership” that had caused so many soldiers to lose their spirit.
Even when speaking specifically about war and security, it is important to note that Sargent Shriver ends his remarks by saying: “We believe that a restored military tradition will provide for us our surest way, in an uncertain world, to heed the cry of saintly men: ‘No more war. War, never again.’”
Sargent Shriver’s words lead us to reflect on the importance of diplomacy and even-handed political leadership, and force us to truly question the necessity of war. In the face of ongoing conflict around the world, may we be judicious and disciplined in how we respond to unrest, and may always we keep in mind the ultimate goal of peace.
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