Reflection on "The Unknown Soldier"

I know this is quite off topic from what I normally write about, however, I feel it is very much inline with martial art philosophy and outlook, which is very important and pertinent to the correct practice of Kung Fu and Tai Chi. Martial arts are meant to deal with combat, and being that combat is something that few have experienced and even fewer decide to write about, I figured I'd share my response with everyone. Today on going to church I listened to a very moving sermon summarizing a classic sermon which was given by Dr. Fosdick back in Nov. 12th, 1933 titled "The Unknown Soldier" I will attach the original sermon in PDF at the end of this blog post for you to read and reference. Enjoy my friends and as usual comment, like and share. Thanks.

​11/27/2016 A response to the UU Sermon on Dr. Fosdick’s “The Unknown Soldier”
By: Daniel Hyde Former Marine and 2x Combat Veteran

The sermon today was very moving and touched me so much to the point I decided to write this response. There are many things I’d like to cover so I’ll try to be brief and to the point. The only viewpoint I have to give is that which I draw from my personal experiences being a martial arts instructor, massage therapist, and Infantry Marine having served on the front lines in Iraq in 2006-7 and Afghanistan in 2008-9.

I have suffered moderate PTSD, however, many of my friends have suffered far worse than I, and gladly I can say I haven’t suffered major physical harm outside of a few minor injuries and joint problems stemming from my service in the USMC. I have been shot at, almost blown up numerous times and am here to talk about it and share my gained experience to raise awareness and help anyone who seeks knowledge on the subject, as well as to help others going through their own hard times. I hope my words fall on you today in such a way that it brings at least a feeling, if not more to push you and strengthen you in all your endeavors.

My main point is that combat, by its very nature, is a struggle for life. I’ll continue to try and shed some light on this statement and I hope we can go together into this difficult arena, contemplation, and deep discussion. It isn’t easy but we’ll come out better at the end of it, I assure you.

I want to start out by saying combat isn’t at all glorious or as ominous as the movies or others descriptions inadvertently make it to be. The happenings are extreme and powerful moments, but when living them they never seem as such. To make this distinction is very important.

In combat, at the bottom level of an infantryman, it is on your footsteps the ground must be secured. It is by your senses and actions that your life and the life of your fellow brothers in arms is able to endure. Other than preserving your life and that of those around you there can only be one singular focus, that of accomplishing the mission. The caveat to this is doing it in the best way possible to avoid collateral damage, unnecessary loss of life etc. To have more than this in your mind amidst the dangers of combat is to put your life and the lives of others in greater risk, therefore, the aftermath is where your experiences must be digested, assimilated, understood, reflected on etc. If they are looked at in the moment of danger, outside of the necessary problem solving skills for survival, there will be potential for error and unnecessary loss of life.

It is important to note that revisiting these experiences is important for healing and coming to live a better life without their emotional turmoil, but it is an extremely difficult thing to do and more so to do it effectively... To come and write about it is in some ways more difficult for it requires a sort of reliving and deeper examination into yourself and your personal rationalizations of it. Which is why there are so few firsthand accounts and/or reflections written by those who have been in the midst of combat. As I said the recounting of combat isn’t as glorious or ominous from the eyes of one who’s been there first hand, eaten the apple, got the t-shirt etc. The glorious and ominous stories tend to come from the pens of those on the outside looking in. The stories of those in the front lines are far simpler, direct, and without a care for glory.
This is one of the problems I had with Dr. Fosdick’s outlook. Many things in my eyes are blown out of proportion. The life of a Marine, Soldier or any service member has tremendous value and is never looked at or taken lightly, especially by the enemy. Wars are meant to be won, not lost. The overall goal is mission accomplishment and success. However impossible a feat may seem to be there must be rationalization and an amount of success.

The viewpoint Dr. Fosdick propagates is that the command will send men to be sacrificed “in one mighty holocaust offer ten million… on the battlefields of one war” is highly skewed by personal opinion. This to me is looking from the wrong vantage point. To fight in combat, is to stand for a principle, not to simply stand in front of those who are trying to kill you and allow them to take your life. This is why, as I said earlier, combat is a struggle for life. Not only your life but that the principles for which you’re fighting, endure. In face of the carnage of battle this view is easily lost, and many of my friends as well as I still struggle with finding the meaning of various things which has happened to us within combat.

Looking at his stance on the draft and the probability of the unknown soldier being conscripted I agree with his stance on this side of the WW1 + 2. I also agree it is true that nothing will ever compensate for the loss of life. To me principles of freedom, liberty, justice, protection of human rights, etc. are worth more than my life. As such, I will stand for them and fight for them till my last dying breath. Principles are powerful things and at times can push us to deeper conflicts. War seems to be a natural result of these deep conflicts however, war in its entirety should be a last resort. By learning of the self and ridding ourselves of conflict we are able to better navigate conflicts with others and in turn aid others in such a way that all-out war may be avoided.

This requires deep self-reflection, teamwork, negotiations etc. and if there is no teamwork then where do we draw the line? What principles are important enough to die for??? More so what reason is important enough to kill another for? In our day to day lives these are questions to ask ourselves, maybe not to the extreme of this, but weighing our daily decisions is very similar. In light of this knowledge should I do this? Or that? Should I eat the healthy food or the not so healthy, keep this, get rid of that, etc. In light of military service it is the government that makes these decisions and it is up to the service member to follow them or suffer various consequences and/or get out.
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Strength of spirit, will, personal agenda, or character may be the foundation for the service member or the government’s decisions. In light of this right or wrong is hard to clear out, and like I said earlier requires much contemplation on the part of one in military service, we may never know why our mission was what it was, but we must do our best to cope with the actions we have done. This is the burden all of us, as veterans, have to carry. Where we draw the line, what will come of conflict, and whether it is even worth the confrontation, are all very important questions to ask ourselves daily when faced with all situations. I know the Unknown Soldier had all these questions at one time or another, maybe he answered them or not. I for one hope he did if not for any reason than that he could have died in peace.

Attached below is Dr. Harry Emerson Fosdick's Sermon "The Unknown Soldier"