I remember America 200, 1976, our Bicentennial, as a young fifteen-year-old boy in Atlanta, Georgia. It was an exciting time, and we watched the celebrations on TV with the beautiful masted wooden ships sailing into various harbors. To be alive at that time and to see our nation turn 200 years of age was a time of reflection. I have always been a lover of history, but sadly, there was not a History channel then—but we were readers.
America 200 held another monumental moment for me. It was the year my dad challenged me to be the first officer in our family. My dad was special. He was born in 1920, a member of the Greatest Generation and an Army World War II veteran. Dad spoke truth into my life when he said that “there was no greater honor than to wear the uniform of this country, and you are going to be the first officer in our family.”
My dad was a corporal in the US Army. My older brother, a United States Marine Corps veteran, lance corporal, combat infantryman, was wounded at Khe Sahn. My godfather was William “Stickey” Jackson, a Tuskegee Airman. My dad, Herman West Sr., issued a challenge to me to become an American sentinel for freedom and liberty. I would join high school Junior ROTC at Henry Grady HS in Atlanta and upon graduating, go on to the Army ROTC program at the University of Tennessee. And then the day came, July 31, 1982, when I took the oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States.” Dad stood at my right shoulder, Mom at my left, and they pinned on the gold bars of an Army Second Lieutenant.
Generations of Men and Women: Sentinels
When I think of Veterans Day, I ponder the generations of everyday, ordinary men and women over the 250 years of America’s existence who have accepted the challenge of being an American sentinel. As a matter of fact, before there was an America, men took to battlefields because America is not a geographical territory, it is an ideal. The motto of my United States Army is “This We’ll Defend,” and the army has been doing so since June 14, 1775, which also happens to be Flag Day. Over all these years, we have continued to produce the greatest asset this country has, its sons and daughters who will defend the honor and fundamental principles, values, and rule of law for the longest running constitutional republic the world has ever known.
There are some who hold the absurd belief that as an American Black man, I should not take pride in this nation and its anniversary of independence. Those naysayers could not be more wrong. It was a free Black man, Crispus Attucks, who is claimed to be the first man shot at the Boston Massacre in 1770. The freed Black men of the 54th Massachusetts Regiment were the standard bearers for me because they became sentinels of liberty and freedom to ensure that the premise of the Declaration of Independence would be true for all: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The Calling of the Ordinary to Do the Extraordinary
Over my twenty-two years of commissioned service to this nation, I saw the opposite of freedom and liberty, just as those who went before me—and those afterwards have and shall see. I have had the sacred and humble experience of serving alongside real heroes and, sadly, have seen some lose their lives. However, there remains a new generation of Americans who accept the challenge to be sentinels of freedom and liberty. And if that is to remain the story of America, the calling of the ordinary to do the extraordinary, then we, the veterans, must tell the story. We must do as Lincoln stated in the Gettysburg Address, to ensure that those who have “given the last full measure of devotion” shall not have made their sacrifice in vain.
We have a saying in the military, “All gave some, but some gave all.”
“Here Am I, Send Me”: Keeping the Enemies of Freedom at Bay
As a Christian, this time of reflection upon being a veteran on this Veterans Day reminds me of Isaiah 6:8 (NASB): “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?’ Then I said, ‘Here am I, send me!’” Isaiah raised his right hand and stepped forward.
That is what it means to be a veteran. We are the ones who have followed the example of Isaiah and said, as we took the oath, “Here am I, send me!” The next time you sing the national anthem, remember that there were soldiers inside Fort McHenry ensuring that our symbol of freedom and liberty continued to fly during the British bombardment. Remember the dying generation of men who were sentinels of freedom and liberty that liberated an entire continent. Remember that regardless of the political divisions in our nation, there are always those who say within their hearts, “This We’ll Defend.”
I recall when there were rantings about certain people being part of “the 1 percent.” Well, when I think about the American sentinels, we are the real 1 percent. We are the ones who say to you, “Sleep peacefully at night,” because we stand ready to do that which is necessary to protect your freedom. George Orwell is said to have stated, “People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” That deterrent is what keeps evil and the enemies of freedom and liberty at bay.
Veterans Day in America 250 and Beyond
As we enjoy this Veterans Day in America 250, think of what Veterans Day in America 300 will be. Let’s honor those sentinels of freedom and liberty now, so that young fifteen-year-olds will see that example and become the future sentinels.
Second Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” The Spirit of the Lord has been upon America, and we have our spiritual freedom, liberty, bestowed upon us by the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But we have our earthly freedoms and liberties, naturally endowed to us by our Judeo-Christian faith heritage, God the Creator, protected by earthly angels that we call veterans, our sentinels.
There are only two who have been willing to lay down their lives for you: Jesus Christ and our blessed American veterans.
Steadfast and Loyal.
Lieutenant Colonel Allen B. West (US Army, Retired)
Member, 112th U.S. Congress
