5/27: Something for Nothing

You can't have freedom for free.

No, you don't get something for nothing,
You can't have freedom for free.
You won't get wise
With the sleep still in your eyes,
No matter what your dream might be.

“Something for Nothing” is my favorite song off 2112. And I know it's not the point of this song, but I think the line, “You can’t have freedom for free,” is a fitting one for Memorial Day.

I read recently that fewer than 1% of the American population is active duty military, a stat that frankly boggles my mind. Maybe it speaks to how technological our modern military has become; better surveillance tech and precision weaponry means fewer servicemembers are necessary. Our country needs fewer people to put themselves in harm’s way to keep us safe.

Yet with every gain comes unintended consequences. If you don’t serve in the military, and you don’t know anybody who does, then it’s easier for you to think the military is overfunded or unnecessary; or that soldiers are inherently evil; or that war is inherently immoral; or any of the other anti-military canards I’ve heard over the years in progressive circles. You become disconnected from the real sacrifices needed to keep everyone in this country safe.

Someone needs to don the uniform. Someone has to do the hard work. And by enlisting in the military, these men and women are sacrificing at the very least a comfortable life, an easy life—and sometimes, sadly, their lives, period.

I’m a child of veterans, with in-laws and extended family members who served. My father used to go to “the Wall” every Memorial Day (the Vietnam War Memorial in D.C.). When I was a young girl, he took me once or twice. I remember him pointing out his best friend’s name. His brother. Men who made the ultimate sacrifice, and whose lives continued to touch and shape others, long after they’d passed.

We don’t get freedom for free. I hope we as a society don’t ever forget that.