As President Obama unfurled his thoughts in the State of the Union message it was obvious there is much we need to be doing if we are to continue as a symbol of leadership for the world. Whether one agrees with him or not, there can be little argument that, as the song in Music Man says, “There’s Trouble in River City.”
When things are as difficult as they are, we start looking for someone to blame and there is no shortage of targets: The President and his predecessors are prime suspects. There are others: Congress, whose motto seems to be, “When all is said and done there will be much more said than done.” Wall Street and venture capitalists; the banks and the fund managers certainly have little of which they can be proud. One culprit seems to be lurking unnoticed in the shadows: Our personal sense of entitlement.
If things are bad, then some one should fix it and we are more than willing to tell them how it should be done. We, the citizenry, are owed that . . . or so we seem to think.
At the same time the world was listening to the President, two events from a half century ago came, although briefly, into view. First, was the 50th anniversary of John Kennedy’s inauguration. In that speech there is a line that everyone knows: “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” It had a ring to it that resonates today, but only faintly. We expect the country to do for us whatever we want and the devil take the hindmost when it comes to paying for it. The word “sacrifice” is meant for somebody else, certainly not you and me.
The second item is the upcoming 50th anniversary of The Peace Corps, the brainchild of Sargent Shriver, who recently died. Over its existence more than 200,000 men and women have volunteered for service in countless countries. Each one of them took those inaugural words from January 20, 1961 and changed not only their own lives, but the lives of millions with whom they have come in contact. It is impossible to calculate the impact they have made.
As I was thinking about the importance of every American taking a responsibility for improving our nation and the world, I was pleased to see an article in Newsweek, January 31, entitled “Step Up For Your Country.” The author, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, knows whereof he speaks. It’s an idea that I have held ever since I completed my compulsory military service decades ago: There should be a requirement for every able-bodied American to perform some period of government service. It could be the military or the Peace Corps but there are countless other options: AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity, City Year, Teach for America to name only a few. By serving in such a way, the sense of entitlement is replaced by the need to earn what has been made possible by those who came before us. Many nations have mandatory service as a requirement. The United States should be among them.
I recently read a book that puts in perspective a positive contribution military service can offer. Coppola is the autobiography of a pediatric surgeon in the Air Force. Col. Coppola’s two tours in the Air Force Hospital in Balad, Iraq graphically tell of the care our wounded receive but more impressive were the care he and his colleagues gave to Iraqi civilians including thousands of children. Even more astounding, injured enemy combatants were treated with equal skill.
Chris Coppola is now a civilian practicing at The Janet Weis Children’s Hospital, part of The Geisinger Clinic in Pennsylvania. Because of his commitment to his country, he is donating a portion of the proceeds from his book to the Fisher House Foundation, a national nonprofit for providing care and support to wounded veterans and their families after they return to this country. The houses are located near major medical facilities and allow families to be close to their wounded members while being rehabilitated.
Read his book and you will see how what he did for his country has changed him. We may not do something so dramatic but the result of giving back to our country can be no less rewarding. Given our national heritage does not entitle us to just accept it. A price was paid . . . and every citizen should repay that debt. As Gen. McChrystal put it, it’s a call to pens, shovels, and hammers.
What we have in America is valuable beyond measure; to take it for granted is a certain step toward losing it.
