Memorial Day is About Honoring Integrity, Not Sacrifice

It's basically become a typical American cliché, especially on Memorial Day, to remember our fallen troops for their "sacrifice," but such a thing is not only utter nonsense, it is insulting to everyone in our armed forces.

As Ayn Rand noted, a sacrifice is "a surrender of a greater value for the sake of a lesser one or of a non-value."

A soldier signing up for military service does so not because he does not value his life and therefore does not care if he dies in battle, but because he values his life and freedom and that of his family and friends, he values a safe society, he values courage, honor, and valor. In fact, in the face of those who would do us harm, it would be a sacrifice to put down our weapons and not defend those values we hold dear. Especially when it's a matter of life and death, as it is in war, going into harm's way to defend what one values is not acting in a sacrificial manner, it is acting with the utmost integrity to one's values (which by definition, is a selfish act).

This Memorial Day, let's celebrate and remember all those who have fallen while defending the values that make life as we know it today possible.