Commentary: Who We Are

During a visit to the Antietam Civil War battlefield in the 1980s, Wickham was struck by what he saw as the intense sense of duty and purpose of Civil War soldiers. Looking out on an area called "Bloody Lane," where several assaults by Union soldiers had resulted in tremendous casualties before they finally broke through, Wickham said: "You couldn't get American soldiers today to make an attack like that."

The general's seemingly simple and straightforward observation jumped off the page and struck me as immensely profound. For it speaks volumes about who we are, as individuals, as a society and as a nation.

One could easily dismiss the statement by arguing soldiers today wouldn't make such sacrifices today because modern weapons and tactics make them unnecessary. One could similarly argue Civil War soldiers faced unique circumstances.

First, the issues they confronted had deep emotional roots, involving the survival or destruction of entrenched economic, social and political patterns and institutions. Secondly, the conflict was on our own soil. For many Civil War soldiers it was in their own backyard. Thus, it could be said soldiers were driven to take greater risks because the stakes were so high. The Civil War was indeed personal.

Although valid, these arguments are but a superficial view of Wickham's statement. He was not comparing Civil War tactics to modern warfare. He wasn't even talking about passions of the Civil War. He was talking about commitment, sacrifice, and the ability to understand when we are involved in events transcending our own lives and personal interests.

Given our society's penchant for instant gratification and intolerance to personal inconvenience, the former general's remarks seem to ring true. With worldwide communication, endless entertainment and limitless recreational possibilities at our fingertips, commitment and sacrifice, are increasingly foreign to our lives. We don't even want to know what's happening around the corner, never mind in our individual states, the nation or the world. As our access to the world has expanded, we have retreated, seeking insulation and consolation from all the people, events and issues which demand our time, energy and involvement.

Yet the ability to look beyond our own lives and personal interests, to become involved and make sacrifices, are characteristics we can ill afford to lose. For they affect every aspect of our lives and, in doing so, affect the state of our families, our communities, the nation as a whole and the world in general.

These are the characteristics that make parents role models and mentors to their children. They are the characteristics that make athletes Olympic champions. And they are the characteristics that make soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines heroes.

They turn dreams into imagination, innovation and invention. They turn fear into courage and action. And they transform self-involvement into selfless service.

It is not uncommon for leaders nearing retirement to reflect on our history, as well as their personal experiences, and to sentimentally pronounce that we are less than they were. And perhaps that's what the general was doing when he made his comment at Antietam.

Then again, perhaps he was issuing us a challenge.

Regardless, it deserves our thought.