The Real Meaning Of 13 Stars

We can debate the politics of the situation that is Afghanistan.?

We can blame administrations.?

We can blame military leadership.?

We can finger point between the last administration and the current one.?

We can assign blame among at least two of the three branches of government.

We can certainly wonder whether our executive branch is more of a twig in the middle of winter, or if our legislative branch is a partisan switch used for punishing the other side.

We can watch them all be petty with barbs and jabs and empty, tired, sound-bitten rhetoric.

But,

We must never denigrate the genuineness of the selfless members of our military.

We must never disrespect them, or desecrate the flag that they serve under.

There were recently casualties that coincidentally number the same number of the original 13 colonies.??Those 13 stars were once aligned in a circle on the field of blue at a point when there weren’t 48 or 49 or 50 stars on the flag.

I see each one of those brave, young selfless people as a star on a field of blue, as braver hearts on a field of purple. For their families, they are gold stars on a field of blood red.

In comparison to these young people who put service above self, who represented the eagle, globe and anchor of Marines, who took their duty at sea and land and air, they now soar above.

Let’s not disrespect their memory, nor the memories of the countless who have lost lives in Afghanistan and every other conflict, people from different nations and militaries, battling tyranny.

This is yet another sad chapter of a political casualty and inept leadership.

Let us not forget heroes like these 13 stars.?

We’ve been at war for almost two years internally – Covid, debates about vaccines, no vaccines, police are good, police are bad, democrats are evil, republicans are evil, wear a mask, don’t wear a mask.

We can, and should, agree to disagree, that is what makes American freedom so rare and so precious.?

We worship fake idols and heroes.?

Our society idolizes narcissistic a-holes who spend their days posting selfies, while many throw shade and sticks and stones at the real heroes – the selfless military, the police, the medical community, teachers, public safety and public servants.

We think heroes are prima donnas who have to make it all about them because they get paid ridiculous money to throw or catch a ball, yet we disrespect people - who get paid less in a year than one night’s Amex charge by a baller in the bottle room at the club - who dodge grenades and catch bad guys, risk their lives, protecting the freedoms we’ve taken for granted.

Let’s stop idolizing self-absorbed idiots hawking vitamins and let's celebrate selfless heroes ensuring vigilance.

There’s no better field to defend than the field of blue stars and red and white stripes.

Honor the real dusty OD green, not the bright green of fake turf.

The yard lines and goal lines mean nothing without the blue lines, the red lines, and the green lines of the personnel who protect us.

Let’s get back to civility and civil discourse.

Let’s celebrate those who sacrifice.

There are another 13 gold stars that are getting awarded to families who are left with pain.

There are families of slain officers who are bleeding blue.

That’s real pain, not something that Icy Hot or Advil can take away.

You may think the “likes” you give are precious – think about the?lives?others have given to ensure your freedoms.

Give them and their families the likes, and the love, and the respect, they deserve.

Remember the 13 stars arranged in the circle on the “Betsy Ross” flag and this history, that the Marine Committee of the Second Continental Congress?passed a flag resolution?on June 14, 1777, establishing the first congressional description of official United States ensigns as follows:

Resolved,?That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.?

Take your hat off, light a candle, set a place setting, salute and thank a veteran, a police officer, a public servant, a doctor, a nurse.?

Remember the 13 stars and pray there are no more gold stars given out.

Paul Fioravanti, MBA, MPA, CTP. Proud American citizen. Proud son of a United States Army Veteran. Thankful for the selfless heroes that protect us all.