The Problem With Heritage: An Open Letter to US Military Members

The views expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the US Air Force, Department of Defense or the US Government.

Have you ever noticed that the military tends to surround itself with stories of grandeur, daring missions, and larger-than-life heroes? From young ages, we’re taught to thank veterans for their service. Big department stores like Hobby Lobby are swamped with cheap decorations with messages such as, “Land of the free because of the brave.” My mom got one of these when I first joined the military, and I believe it continues to sit above the microwave, even as I’ve come to question how much the military contributes to freeing our land.

This idea of military heroes isn’t just limited to little tchotchkes and vague sayings on Veterans’ Day; it was also a foundational idea at the US Air Force Academy, unsurprisingly.

One particular rule I remember from basic and Doolie year was to never allow your uniform to touch the ground. Doing so – dirtying the uniform in any way – was disrespectful, and it is because of the actions of those who came before that we should respect and honor the uniform, as people have given their lives while wearing it. This idea of heritage, that we belong to something larger than ourselves, is what I believed made serving in the military so special. It was the opportunity – perhaps even the challenge – to be something more than you could achieve individually.

But lately, this heritage that the military holds so dear seems to be weaponized against critics as a guarantee that the military and the government we fight for can do no wrong, rather than used as a standard to always work towards or lessons to learn from. We are distracted from asking questions about our role as military members with tales of individual heroism, cherry-picked to best appeal to passion. This is a dangerous sentiment, especially as the policies of the current administration align more and more with the policies of a government our country fought against in the 1940s.

It is time to stop parading people around in the name of heritage, and it is time to start listening to the lessons they teach.

How can we claim the heritage of men and women like the Tuskegee airmen when we stay silent as racial injustice – from police brutality to mass, privatized incarceration to even the rolling back of DEI policies – pervades and festers in the very foundation of our country? How can we celebrate the return of Vietnam veterans while thousands of veterans still have no homes to return to? How can we declare ourselves a bastion of freedom while so many countries – the Congo, Palestine, Sudan, to name a few – suffer as a result of our country’s greed and interference? While we cruelly deport people searching for freedom from oppression and danger in a new land? Not to mention that we also deport veterans after they have volunteered to serve this country, many of whom have honorable discharges.

We are brought to near worship of our veteran and military communities, and we lift them beyond reproach. We don’t remember our military’s own war crimes. We don’t remember the civilians killed in Vietnam, Iraq, Afghanistan, and even during WWII. Like blinders on a horse, our heritage cloaks our ability to see injustice around us, replacing the reality of war with larger-than-life figures for whom we might be willing to die – or kill.

It is time for this generation of fighters to decide what is worth fighting for, regardless of whether you believe some past militaries may have been on the right side of history. I’m talking about here and now. The excuse of following orders was the defense presented by those who perpetrated the My Lai Massacre. It is what the Nazis used to defend themselves at the Nuremberg trials. And military members still throw this sentiment around with abandon.

We, as military members, have the unique responsibility to understand the conflicts we are in and may take part of, just as Lt Ehren Watada did when he concluded the US war on Iraq was illegal.. And it is our obligation to do all we can to be honest about the true costs of war and stem its spread, even if it means standing against our own government’s policies.

After all, it must be the most patriotic thing to uphold the values that formed this country – true freedom, life, liberty – even when those who are supposed to safeguard those values seek to tear them down.

Lt. Joy Metzler is currently on active duty, waiting for her conscientious objector package to be approved.