It’s that loud season of the year when the Thunderbirds show up overhead and the graduation ceremony becomes one of the best memories of the Air Force Academy for about 1,000 young Americans who went there. This year I know a couple of those graduating as well as others entering the service out of High School. For two of them, I was offered the chance to write a note of encouragement and congratulations. Here’s what I said.
Second Lieutenant,
My, that sounds pretty good to me. You are about to embark on one of life’s greatest adventures. There are many to be sure, but you have chosen, as MacArthur coined at West Point, “a life of adventure over love of ease.” You are about to engage in a cause greater than yourself. It will bring you quiet satisfaction looking back when you reach my age. And, if you look around you, you’ll see the people that have great pride in you today because they, in supporting you these last several years, have been serving their country, too.
In a humbling way, they understand the gravity of knowing what you are about to take on—the oath of military office. Military life is full of risk. You’re about to write out a check in the sum of your entire life paid to the order of the people of the United States of America. You’re going to hand it over to the Commander-in-Chief of this great nation no matter who he or she may be. We can’t even begin to conceive of the nature of conflict you will encounter, the enemies you will face or the engagements that will test your courage. Oh, that we could know.
Millions of your fellow countrymen have written that same check—I among them. My check was never cashed. My namesake’s check was. But, I never thought much about it flying through the blackness of night or across the lonely deserts of the west. And, you would do well to attend to the task at hand whether engaging the enemy or changing a future diaper or two at the house. You’re serving your country no matter what, all the time, at home and abroad, and we are profoundly grateful.
Never forget that you may be your country’s humble servant, but God’s first. He will work out all of the details of your future. At times, He will let you in on those “futures” and guide you in a way that allows you to reach for and realize your dreams. These are the great rewards for conspicuous gallantry in the face of spiritual opposition. They are the memories of yesterday that will comprise your smile once these next several decades have concluded and your grandchildren turn to you with faces of promise and wonder and ask you about your dreams for them. Tell them about a life of adventure over love of ease. Tell them to pursue causes greater than themselves. In this way, they will discover what it means to be an American.
Remember the words of Joshua. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Remember the words of the Psalmist: “You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.”
My prayer for you is that you would do right because God gave you the light to see it, the courage to pursue it, the protection to achieve it, and the strength to hold on to it.
Congratulations, and may God be with you, always.