October 17, 2001
Occasionally Col. Bob Pappas, USMC, (Ret)sends me thoughts he's written. They always have good points in them. Yesterday, however, he wrote something that I think needs to be spotlighted. He made the point, as has been made before, the when the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776, its signers knew that doing so would "chance individual and collective disaster."
"Despite that," he noted, "they wrote then signed the words, "And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the Protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." They understood that the path upon which they had embarked could mean the loss of their possessions, their property, their families and even their lives; and in the end, they suffered losses that are beyond contemporary comprehension.Yet, from that day to this, hundreds of thousands of ordinary Americans have risen to challenges that have immortalized the high ideals of the signers, withstanding the tests of politics, war and time. From its humble beginnings as a group of beleaguered and isolated colonies, the United States of America has risen to world preeminence. That did not happen simply because its founders inscribed their signatures upon that, now "sacred" document. It happened because the high ideals contained therein have animated the imagination of the American people, permeating its social fabric and national soul.
Thatis very true. We know that, or we should. Then Col. Pappas wrote:
Today, America's strength is not in its diversity. Its great strength lies largely untapped, and is its potential ability to unify its diversity into a common vision and purpose.
That is a truth we need to begin to recognize. Throughout the world nations are coming apart. The battles between Pakistan and India over Kashmir is a mirror image of the battles in the Balkans that caused Yugoslavia to disintegrate and the once powerful USSR to break up into many small national groups. Osama Bin Laden believes that he can cause force the disintegration of the United States, like the USSR and the British Empire disintegrated.
Col. Pappas warned:
To the extent that political leaders pursue and exercise power acquired through divisiveness, America's potential is wasted. Conversely, to the extent that Americans pursue unity of direction and purpose; and as long as there are patriots who devote their intellect, talents, energies and lives to the preservation of the high ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence; so long as the Nation bears true faith and allegiance to the same; as long as it aspires to the high ideals, moral imperatives and unity of purpose set forth therein, the sacrifices of the heroic signers of that "sacred" writ will not have been in vain, and the American beacon will illuminate the world until the end of time.
The genius of America has been its ability to welcome people from all over the world who speak different languages, have different cultures, religions and educations who have come together as a nation based on the concept of freedom embodied in the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. That unity of purpose, not the diversity, is what makes us a nation. That was what made it possible, on Flight 93, for strangers on an airplane, one they learned about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon through technology developed in a free land, to quickly make individual decisions to fight for, and die for, people on the ground they would never meet.
The signers of the Declaration of Independence were not only willing to pledge their "Lives, Fortunes and sacred Honor" to one another for the cause of freedom, nearly all of them LOST fortunes, family members, and lives in defending freedom.
In the face of extreme danger, the strangers on Flight 93 made a similar sacrifice for our freedom. Its something that should bring us together to defend the high ideals, moral imperatives and unity of purpose on which this nation was founded - not because of someone passing a law, but because we believe in those high ideals and moral imperatives. If we do, we cannot lose. If we don't, we cannot win.
To comment: mmostert@bannerofliberty.com