Wiki_QA_PREVIEW__@@

This page is read only. You can view the source, but not change it. Ask your administrator if you think this is wrong.
To view this on the COS website, click here [[https://conventionofstates.com/news/armed-forces-day|armed-forces-day]]


----

====== Armed Forces Day ======


They say you never know what you have until it’s gone. May that never be true of us.


----

|“We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”\\ \\ Thus spoke George Orwell, a man who knew better than most the true cost of freedom. The //1984// and //Animal Farm// author had been spied on and hunted by the Communist Party and Secret Police in Spain. As one writer [[https://lithub.com/the-communist-plot-to-assassinate-george-orwell/|described]], “the Communists had initiated a purge of their perceived enemies. Orwell was on the list.” He recounted his experiences in a less-remembered book, //Homage to Catalonia//.\\ \\ Orwell’s terrifying brush with totalitarianism, which arrived about a decade before he wrote and published his famous novels, proved formative to his views on government and power. “Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right,” a fictional character states in //1984//. But perhaps, as he wrote that line, he was thinking of his own past, of how the Communists had once [[https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/oct/11/revealed-soviet-spies-targeted-george-orwell-during-spanish-civil-war|raided]] his wife’s room and confiscated their private papers. Of how they had sought to silence him.\\ \\ Americans are blessed not to have experienced that level of suppression and control. A brief overview of 20th-century history proves that many countries have not been so lucky. But do we ever stop and ask ourselves why? Why has the United States been so uniquely successful when countless other countries have fallen prey to the forces of tyranny?\\ \\ One thing is clear: it had nothing to do with luck.\\ \\ Nations do not survive by mere good fortune. Nations survive when strong men take up arms to defend them.\\ \\ It’s safe to assume that, without the men in uniform, the brave soldiers willing to defend the principles of liberty, America would not have been so “lucky.” Freedom here may not have been so durable.\\ \\ Throughout history, evil men have done everything in their power to suppress freedom. That’s why we need “rough men” who “stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.”\\ \\ If no one’s willing to do it, if no one’s willing to take that oath, if we’re all too afraid to pay the price, we might as well bid our freedom farewell now.\\ \\ They say you never know what you have until it’s gone. May that never be true of us. Today, as we celebrate Armed Forces Day, may we remember, appreciate, and honor the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force for their incalculable contributions to the great cause of liberty. To the brave men and women who serve in these branches, thank you; thank you for ensuring we sleep safely in our beds.\\ \\ At Convention of States, which is backed by thousands of veterans who see fighting for an Article V convention as the logical next step in fulfilling their oath to support and defend the Constitution, we remain committed to preserving the liberty you risk your lives to maintain. May God bless you for your service, and may our advocacy honor you well.|


----

|  __Page Metadata__  ||
|Login Required to view?  |No                  |
|Created:                 |2025-05-08 15:33 GMT|
|Updated:                 |2025-05-23 07:00 GMT|
|Published:               |2025-05-16 14:00 GMT|
|Converted:               |2025-11-11 12:05 GMT|
|Change Author:           |Jakob Fay           |
|Credit Author:           |                    |