Cause and Courage

I just watched a twenty year old movie, Rough Riders.  It was a very well made film and from what I can find, historically correct in it's portrayal of the Spanish American War.

 

Was the reason for the war, simply America's Imperialistic desire, our wish for power and territory and resources or was it to rescue Cuba from oppressive brutality? The oppression was real and happening, but the benefit for our country on a national and global level was also without argument.

 

Watching this movie, with stars such as Tom Berenger in an excellent recreation of Theodore Roosevelt, as well as many other talented actors---Sam Elliot, Gary Busey, Buck Taylor and more---made me have lots of thoughts about courage and bravery.

 

Another of my favorite movies is Glory. This is the story of Colonel Robert G. Shaw and his black regiment of soldiers in the Civil War, the 54th of Massachusetts. They were famous for their part in the unsuccessful charge at Fort Wagner where Shaw and a high number of his soldiers were killed. Shaw was 26 years old.

 

These stories of valor are but a drop in the ocean of the thousands and thousands of men and women who have acted with extreme gallantry and honor in the defense of a heart felt cause. Is the cause always just and right?  No, it's not.  The cause isn't always right, but the courage is always real.

 

I don't believe that courage, true heroism is deliberate or planned. It comes from something deep within and propels a human to make, often the ultimate sacrifices.  In a moment of certainity in the rightness of cause, a person will stand up, speak up or move forward and completely disregard their own self preservation.  These acts of bravery renew my belief in the goodness that exists in mankind.

 

 John F. Kennedy said, The courage of life is often a less dramatic spectacle than the courage of a final moment; but it is no less a magnificent mixture of triumph and tragedy.  Bravery and honor are present in our everyday lives and also in our last moments. 

 

In our world and country today, we need courage. Perhaps we can find ours in the actions of those that came before.

We can have no '50-50' allegiance in this country. Either a man is an American and nothing else, or he is not an American at all. --Theodore Roosevelt.