by Capt. Dale Dye USMC (Ret)
Discount all the political claptrap and you’ll likely find that the progenitor of most formal and informal bloody struggles around the world is a quest for freedom. Peel away at the great onion of human history and you find everywhere a basic struggle for the latitude among people to do as they damn well please – or as their moral compass directs – without demand to do otherwise by tyrants of one ilk or another. Tyrants, tin-pot dictators, religious zealots, oppressive governments and other assorted threats to human freedom often back their demands for conformity with violent means or cruel punishments. World history tells us it’s at that point that otherwise peaceable people start beating the plowshares back into swords.
Allowed to organize into structures that meet their basic physical and psychological needs, humans are a malleable and tolerant lot for the most part. But you start futzing around with their freedom and things are likely to get ugly in a hurry. At some point, they start singing the lyrics from Kris Kristofferson’s Me and Bobby McGee, with loud emphasis on the part that says freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose. It’s usually around this time that soldiers – either locally grown or provided by empathetic neighbors who believe in human freedom as a worthy concept – start swinging the swords or banging away with more modern weapons. That’s the way of our world. You can Google it
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It’s always seemed a little ironic to me that those who most often fight and die for freedom are among the most restricted and regimented people in the world
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It’s always seemed a little ironic to me that those who most often fight and die for freedom are among the most restricted and regimented people in the world – namely soldiers organized under tight rules and restrictions to fight, survive and win on battlefields large or small. I’ve been one of those for most of my adult life so I can say with some authority that soldiers – at least those that serve a nation steeped in democratic principles – have a keen appreciation for the concept of human freedom. While they won’t – or can’t – discuss the concept in academic terms, soldiers writ large feel strongly that the goal of human freedom and dignity is worth the pain and sacrifice they often endure to achieve it for them or for those oppressed.
Honk if you see a bumper sticker that proclaims if you value freedom, thank a soldier. There’s a fellow traveler who is clear on the concept.
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Marine officer Dale A. Dye rose through the ranks to retire as a captain after 21 years of service in war and peace. Following retirement from active duty in 1984, and upset with Hollywood’s treatment of the American military, he went to Hollywood and established Warriors, Inc., the preeminent military training and advisory service to the entertainment industry. Dye has worked on more than 50 movies and TV shows, including several Oscar- and Emmy-winning productions. He is a novelist, actor, director, and showbusiness innovator who wanders between Los Angeles and Lockhart, Texas. Look for Dye’s next installment in the Shake Davis series, Havana File. . . #LetsShakeItUp
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Photo by Scarleth Marie
