Tragedy in Afghanistan should be seen as call to action

I come from a family of fighting men. There is nothing more honorable than service to this country that has given so much, and asked for so little from the majority. But America has demanded that last full measure from the men and women, but especially the men, who have served in combat positions, and we only stop to consider the debt when tragedy occurs.

This past week, 13 U.S. service members were killed by terrorist bombs in Kabul. They were not in active combat. They were doing something that adds poignancy to their mission: Helping civilians escape the hellhole in Afghanistan created by the men in suits.

I believe that President Joe Biden has blood on his hands, and history will not be kind. But this is not about him, and I even regret that I have to mention Biden in this tribute to the fallen angels. Their sacrifice is dishonored if we focus on the architect of their deaths.

And yet, to ignore the role of the politicians is to once again expose the warriors to unnecessary risks beyond the ones they willingly undertake when they swear that oath to protect and defend. That is what happened with President Lyndon Johnson and Robert McNamara, the one naïve and questioning, the other duplicitous and nihilistic. Thousands upon thousands died because of that tandem of incompetence and malfeasance.

So yes, Biden is responsible for this, as were Donald Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, all the way back to the presidents and senators who thought it was a great idea to arm terrorists so we could get back at the Soviets.

But to dwell on this is to ignore the nature of the sacrifice those 10 Marines, two soldiers and a Navy corpsman made. They were in the process of evacuating desperate civilians from a country that had fallen into immediate chaos, and imminent tyranny.

Their mission was not to capture a hill or fortify a city. It was to be the separate links in a human chain, person by person, life by life, breath by labored breath, leading toward the open door of infinite possibility: Freedom.

The fact that they were murdered while trying to save lives makes their loss exponentially worse. The Bible says, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Take it even further: No greater love hath a man that he lay down his life for strangers.

The picture of the Marine sitting down and cradling a newborn Afghani child went viral because it spoke to something deep within all of us that lies dormant until tragedy occurs: The understanding that in the dark and dire moments, the touch of a human being is the greatest weapon against despair and the strongest defense against disaster.

That picture is emblematic of what the Marines and other warriors have been doing around the world. It is not the tragic image of a battered and bloodied combatant, alone on a hill. It is the picture of that Marine, cradling the child. Of the Marines on Iwo Jima, raising the flag. Of every moment that someone in uniform shows up to represent what this country has always meant, despite the woke naysayers who slander the past with their twisted and evolved retelling of facts and events that never occurred.

Those who died last week are an unbearable loss to their families, a horrific sacrifice to what many consider a failed campaign, a tragic reminder of the fragility of life and the toxicity of radical ideology.

But to me, as I deal with the refugees who long to escape the maelstrom in Afghanistan, the fallen represent the light that burns brightly in the hearts of generous Americans, the power of the human spirit against the nihilism of terrorists and opportunists (often interchangeable) and hope.

May their memory be a blessing, an inspiration, and a call to action. And may their deaths be avenged by our refusal to pay tribute to tyrants.