Firing Back: Respecting the Past

As my journey throughout Europe and the Middle East continues, one thing has become readily apparent. While military history is respected in many nations, including Greece, Turkey and Egypt – and of course Israel – in the United States it is something that is rarely embraced. While nations such as Turkey and Egypt have military histories that are marked with more defeats in the modern era than victories, this hasn’t stopped those peoples from celebrating their military traditions.

This is worth noting, because if we don’t embrace our past – for good or bad – we risk losing who we are, and more importantly the nation could change to something we didn’t anticipate. This issue of military history is far too often linked to “guns” and weapons of war. While this can be an ugly thing, it is what made our nation and we should not forget it, even if we can’t embrace it.