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Soldier's Standard?

Despite what many may say - it is the man in the 'arena' that counts...

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."
-- Theodore Roosevelt. "Citizenship in a Republic," Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

What are your thoughts?

Standard Soldiers

I like the statements made in this speech. It seems easy for those not involved in the fighting to criticize the actions of those doing the fighting. Its easy to say they are wrong and that something different should have been done. But its the person who is up on the front line doing the fighting that I want to hear. I want to know what the soldier sacrificing their body for a cause thinks about the situation. They are the people whose opinion really counts in my opinion.