Gen. Mark Milley: ‘We Do Not Take an Oath to a King or Queen, a Tyrant or Dictator’

[Excerpt]

MILLEY: “We cannot truly appreciate the sacrifice of our soldiers, from the Continental Army to today, or comprehend what they went through unless we see the weapons they used, feel the uniforms they wore, hear the stories they told, or read the letters they wrote. You and I will never fight through the haze and the mustard gas of the Meuse-Argonne. We’re not going to hear the whiz and the snap of their rounds while assaulting the last 100 yards of Omaha Beach. And, no, we’re not going to suffer the blistering cold of the Chosin Reservoir or smell the smoke of the la Drang Valley. But we can come here, we can see the relics and hear the stories through the eyes and the voices of the individual soldiers who endured so much for the cause of freedom and, and their unrelenting devotion to the Constitution of the United States. The moral north star for all of us in uniform. It is that document that gives purpose to our service. It is that document that gives purpose to this museum. And we in uniform are willing to die to pass it on to the next generation. In it, are the ideas and the values that make up this experiment called the United States of America. And the motto of the United States Army for over 200 years, since 14 June 1775, the motto has been: This we will defend. And the this refers to the Constitution and to protect the liberty of the American people. You see, we are unique among armies. We are unique among militaries. We do not take an oath to a king or queen, a tyrant or dictator. We do not take an oath to an individual. No, we do not take an oath to a country, a tribe or religion. We take an oath to the Constitution and every soldier that is represented in this museum, every sailor, airman, Marine, Coast Guardsman, each of us will protect and defend that document regardless of personal price.”