Letter: Constitution is alive
Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
After watching the news and uproar for the last few days, I felt it was my duty as a college graduate and Army officer to throw m opinion into the ring. I fully approve and support your publication of Sex on the Hill and look forward to next year’s edition.
Why did I go to college? I went to expand my knowledge base, create new experiences, absorb new ideas and appreciate the differences that others bring to the academic environment. College is all about self-enlightenment. College is about challenging the structured norms that have been ingrained into my mind for the previous two decades by family, church and state. Once college has attempted to mold, shape and influence my existence, I graduate a complete person ready to tackle the challenges of life and adult responsibility.
As a soldier (and all soldiers before me), I swear an allegiance NOT to a president or Congress, but to defend the U.S. Constitution from all enemies foreign or domestic. Soldiers, Airmen, Sailors and Marines have been doing this for hundreds of years, so Americans may have the freedoms our founding fathers established for us. Amendment I states, “Congress shall make no law…prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” I support that fully. Yes, it pains me to see the flag burned and war memorials downgraded to photography background scenery, but it overwhelmingly warms my heart to know that the Constitution is alive and well here in the United States.
—Gus Bernardo is a Major in the U.S. Army at Fort Leavenworth.
Discussion
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The oath of enlistment"
I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (So help me God.)
Did you forget the "President of the US" line? I know I said it when I enlisted.
PS are you speaking on behalf of the whole Army? I would expect by the rank of Major you would have learned that you CAN NOT represent yourself in such a way that would imply that the whole Army feels the way you do......
USN vet
are "obeying orders of the president" (notably by force of oath) and "pledging allegiance to the president" the same thing? i would contend that they are not.
additionally, he notes that all soldiers before him have sworn the same oath, in that they literally pledge allegiance to the constitution and not a president or congress. therefore, this is not him claiming to represent the entire military, but displaying the common bond that they hold as a result of their initiation.
this letter deserves praise, not a wag of the finger, ya hear?
I think something more creative should've been done...
They should've photoshoped a condom on the campanille. or maybe they could've even teamed up with some anti-AIDS organization and actually placed a huge condom on the campanille.
that would've been awesome.
sbell10,
The point that cath0830 brings up is that the Major has issued a public opinion about this and then signed his name and rank. Whether he realized it or not, he represents the Army, Fort Leavenworth, and most specifically, he's issuing an opinion on behalf of his commanders. Without explicitly saying that the opinions are yours, yours alone, and not the opinions of the Army, you are saying that the Army feels the same way about this issue, and if you don’t see it that way, the Army certainly does. Go look up what is happening to Adam Kokesh if you don’t believe me. While this is not exactly the same, it is very similar to showing up to a political event in uniform. The Defense Department is very clear about what you can and can't do as a representative of the armed forces, and this letter is not one of them. Whether it deserves praise or not is a matter of opinion. Whether it deserves a wag of the finger is not a subject of debate, and this Major SHOULD know this.
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