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“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who has given us the freedom to demonstrate. It is the soldier, who salutes the flag, who serves beneath the flag and whose coffin is draped by the flag, who allows the protester to burn the flag.”
― Jeremiah A. Denton

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message 1: by John (new)

Nov 18, 2021 12:22PM

I HATE this quote. I think it’s one of the most pernicious things I’ve ever heard in my life. Oh, it is, or was, back in the day, so easy to push people’s buttons by taking a shot at the “campus organizer.” That aside, I think it’s the reporter, armed as she or he is, with only a pen, or microphone, who is far braver than a soldier with his armor and weapons. And the writer, poet or otherwise, who dares to think for herself, to speak up, to express something that might not be popular, or might even be challenging to society, maybe even going it alone, is far braver than the soldier in his company, or brigade, or army, who takes orders from others. The freedom of the press and of speech are not “given” by the soldier. They are not the soldier’s to give. Those freedoms do not exist unless used by someone and it is those who take the risks of using them who give them to others. Soldiers have been fighting and killing each other, and countless innocent non-combatants, for centuries without giving us those freedoms. But I don’t hate or disrespect soldiers, it’s just this sappy quote I hate. I respect soldiers, but I don’t revere them. They have their place and it’s not above reporters, writers, and poets.

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