I've spent a lot of time in Eastern Europe and all around this side of Europe in the center of town squares you see statues of stoic looking knights on horseback; these are often the heroes of these nations who liberated their people from the Ottoman empire. These men are not immortalized in metal because they had good arguments for freedom, they sharpened swords and drew blood. If I had ever joined the US Military in my life, was trained to use weaponry and taken an oath before my god to defend my country from enemies foreign and domestic I would gaze up at those statues and meditate deeply on my role in history.