Echo from military leaders- do not become Trump's puppets!

Echo opinion published in the Tennessean newspaper

American military serves the nation and not Donald Trump

Should Trump consider again employing active military members against their fellow Americans, he will betray America’s trust in those who serve.

• John Tanner served in both the Navy and Army National Guard and is a former Congressman from Tennessee’s 8th District. 
• Bob Pearson served in the Navy and was a career diplomat and ambassador to Turkey. 
• John Castellaw served in the Marines for 36 years, retiring as a lieutenant general and the Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources.

Over the last week we have watched a drama play out in our nation’s capital. Together, the three of us represent more than 100 years of service to our country with over 50 years in uniform. As a soldier, sailor, Marine, Congressman and ambassador, we have served in war and in peace, in uniform and out, with all races, all religions, with "other" and "none of the above," to “support and defend the Constitution.” We have never bowed in supplication to any one person but have stood together, at the risk of our lives, to defend America and our rule of law.

America's strength lies in its citizens

Our nation has never had, never wanted and never needed a Napoleon claiming he alone could make us safe. America’s strength is solidly based in our citizens and their willingness, as John Kennedy stated, to “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.” "We," not "I," is the operative word.

Now we have a president who seems to regard America’s military as his Praetorian Guard, to do his bidding despite the apolitical role our military has held throughout our history. Our military has served commanders in chief who were Republicans and Democrats without regard to party affiliation; we ourselves have served in various capacities under five Democrats and six Republicans. 

As a result of this obligation to the Constitution, not an individual, our military remains the institution with the highest level of trust in our country, a rating of 74%. No other institution comes close. In an era of "fake news" and lost trust, the military has stood apart, serving and protecting all our fellow citizens equally.

That trust is at risk if the military is used to suppress the civil population instead of being the guardian of our liberty and freedom. One wonders how someone like U.S. Senator Tom Cotton, who served as a junior officer, missed assimilating this essential trust. 

In fact, the employment of the military as a super police force plunges it into a role for which it is neither trained nor equipped, while diverting it from its primary mission of fighting and winning our country’s battles against foreign adversaries. Military force can never overcome the strife created by racial injustice or close the gap of economic inequality. The only way to do that is for our president, our Congress, our courts and our citizens to rededicate ourselves to stamping out the twin evils of racism and inequality.

The greatest threat since the Civil War

The threat to our national unity is the greatest we have faced since the Civil War tore at the foundations of our democracy. With the humble, self-effacing leadership of Abraham Lincoln, America endured, reunified and grew into a world economic power. With that economic power as our base, our citizen army fought two world wars and a cold war to become the superpower embodying President Ronald Reagan’s “shining city on a hill” for the people of the world. Surely that shining light must shine on all the citizens of America equally. 

Finally, should the president consider again employing active military members against their fellow Americans, he will betray America’s trust in those who serve. We remember the veterans who have answered the higher call to duty, especially the ones who have sacrificed their lives for our country, from Valley Forge to lonely outposts in Afghanistan. Our country has always been sustained by those citizens, by their collective strength. This is the real foundation of our nation’s strength, the real reason our liberty and freedom will continue.

John Tanner served in both the Navy and Army National Guard and is a former Congressman from Tennessee’s 8th District. 

Bob Pearson served in the Navy and was a career diplomat and ambassador to Turkey. 

John Castellaw served in the Marines for 36 years, retiring as a lieutenant general and the Deputy Commandant for Programs and Resources.