We can honor our war dead by standing up for American ideals

Memorial Day is a time for Americans to remember, honor and mourn U.S. military personnel who died in service to our country. There have been many, too many. America has suffered 506,952 deaths in its major conflicts since the beginning of World War II. We owe these honorable men and women our lasting gratitude for giving their last full measure to protect and preserve our freedoms and values.

Like many who served in one of our nation’s wars, I always figured there was an unspoken pact between those who served and the folks at home. Service personnel put their lives on the line to protect the American way of life and, in exchange, their countrymen would do their level best to perpetuate our democratic ideals.

In recent years, too many in the U.S. public have failed to carry out their part of that hallowed bargain. Americans are at each other’s throats over ideals that have long been bedrock principles of our democratic republic. It is a serious breach of faith with those who lost their lives in service to this country to engage in heated conflict with fellow Americans over the basic democratic values they fought to uphold.

With the singular exception of the Civil War, the American public has always accepted the outcome of a free and fair election and supported a peaceful transfer of power. Yet, despite overwhelming evidence that the 2020 presidential election result was legitimate, almost 35 percent of our countrymen choose to believe otherwise. Trying to disavow and overcome fair elections is reminiscent of the practices of regimes our service personnel fought against, rather than of the history of the country for which they fought and died.

Too many Americans have also bought into the false narrative that immigrants and people of color are intent on replacing the offspring of those white-skinned immigrants, largely of European stock, who successfully replaced the first inhabitants of North America. The “Great Replacement Theory” has recently gathered surprising traction beyond the white supremacist community, where it existed for many years. Nearly half of Republicans now believe some form of the conspiracy theory that there is a deliberate scheme to dilute the power structure of our heretofore predominant white population.

This dangerous and misbegotten narrative conjures up the bogus Nazi claims that Jews caused Germany’s defeat in the World War I and that Germany’s key to greatness depended upon maintaining the racial purity of its purported Aryan stock. Other autocratic regimes have used fear of “the other” as a means of solidifying their grip on power. Our armed forces have periodically been called to action to oppose such regimes – in Germany, Japan, Bosnia and Kosovo – whose beliefs and practices are odious to American values.

Contrary to the replacement claims, America has been enriched by the people who have come here from every culture and every corner of the globe. Just like our European ancestors, they have been the adventurous, the risk takers, folks who struck out with little in their pockets but great ambitions in their hearts — the heart and soul of America. They have contributed greatly to the defense of liberty and American values.

Just consider those over the years who have received our highest military honor – the Congressional Medal of Honor (MOH) – most often awarded posthumously. They are some of the very people we honor on Memorial Day, service personnel who gave their last full measure to that unspoken pact.

Ninety of our MOH recipients have been African Americans. Thirty Asian Americans have received this high honor, as have at least 17 American Jews. There have been 61 Hispanic MOH recipients, and 29 Native Americans have been honored with the MOH. These numbers would undoubtedly be higher were it not for the reluctance of military brass over the years to approve this highest honor for individuals from these groups.

Another likely source of great sorrow for our cherished war dead would be the sight of civilians publicly brandishing weapons of war and all too often using them to massacre innocent Americans, including defenseless grade schoolers. The military version of the AR-15 was specifically designed to maim and kill humans. The round comes out of the barrel going almost three times faster than a bullet fired from a typical handgun. It therefore has much more energy and causes much more damage to a victim’s body. A non-lethal hit can cause catastrophic damage.

A surgeon who treated victims of the Parkland School shooting in Florida observed that the “high velocity bullet causes a swath of tissue damage that extends several inches from its path. It does not have to actually hit an artery to damage it and cause catastrophic bleeding.” Allowing the type of weapons that were designed to do maximum damage to the bodies of our adversaries is unconscionable and a breach of that unspoken pact between our war fighters and their fellow Americans.

As we rightly honor and mourn our war dead on Memorial Day, we should consider what each of us can do to keep faith with them, to maintain the democratic values and ideals that they gave their lives to protect. They gave us the freedom and opportunity to do what is right for our country. We dishonor their sacrifice if we fail to do our part to preserve and protect the democratic traditions of this great country.

Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho attorney general (1983-1991) and 12 years as a justice on the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). He is a regular contributor to The Hill.