A Saint for Veterans Day
The following is a condensed version of "A Saint for Veterans Day" by Steele Brand, published at Law & Liberty.
Veterans Day should be a day of healing as we remember the armistice that ended World War I and those who have defended the American way of life. But how do we explain such service to veterans who believe they have fought in futile wars, to recruiters who just experienced their biggest recruiting failure, or to citizens whose trust in government is at historic lows?
The answer won’t be found in the recent history of November 11 but in a story about a Roman soldier named Martin, traditionally known as a patron saint of soldiers. Martin’s courage and charity would be celebrated by later generations on the date of his funeral, November 11, 397. Remembering the day’s deeper history might also remind us of the virtues needed to heal our body politic.
Futility is nothing new in war. November 11 was originally Armistice Day, a commemoration of the 1918 peace that ended “the war to end all wars.” The date would henceforth be tied up with patriotism, but the boys on the front lines had seen the limits of that sentiment. A generation of young men had sacrificed themselves in droves on the altar of the nation-state. One such victim was Wilfred Owen, an English poet serving on the front lines in France. His most famous poem describes the “old lie” that “it is sweet and right to die for one’s country.” Susan and Tom Owen, Wilfred’s parents, were celebrating Armistice Day when a telegram arrived informing them of their son’s death a week before the peace. They wept as the town rang the church bells in jubilation.
Wilfred was right about the antiquity of “patriotism” and the “old lie.” He was quoting the Latin poet Horace, who was a propagandist reshaping the old Roman republican patriotism in a more personal sense of patria: devotion to the “father” of all Romans, the emperor.
Martin of Tours made a stand against this father-emperor with a different sort of patriotism in mind. He was a military brat whose father literally sent him in chains to a Roman recruiter. Despite the circumstances of his enlistment, Martin’s fellow soldiers appreciated his guilelessness and fidelity and probably saw combat with him on the Rhine frontier. The most famous story during this time is how Martin cut off his military cloak and gave it to a beggar so he could stay alive in the bitter winters of Gaul.
Martin’s time in the army came to a close when the emperor Julian was campaigning along the Rhine. Martin requested his discharge, and Julian arrested him on the charge of treason. Martin held his ground, insisting that his time for serving his country was over. Now he must serve God and those less fortunate. He even volunteered to stand unarmed in the coming battle to prove his point. Those who knew Martin understood this was no bluff. Julian backed down.
The soldier now longed for peace and the opportunity to benefit Roman society by building instead of destroying. Martin was good to his word. He became the Bishop of Tours and dedicated his life to fighting for average citizens. Over the course of his career, he rebuked no less than three emperors face-to-face, interceding for justice on behalf of the innocent and insisting that the emperor had no right to coerce religious belief. At the same time, the humble soldier-saint spent most of his time clothing the needy, personally caring for the mentally ill, and touring the countryside telling the story of a God who loved all human beings regardless of their wealth, status, or bloodlines. After his death, November 11 became Martin’s feast day. It was a day to remember a courageous soldier that disciplined himself to love God and serve others through kindness and sacrifice.
The peace on November 11, 1918 was hollow for the millions who perished or saw their homelands destroyed, and it led to an even more tragic series of events in the coming decades. For Americans, those decades led to U.S. dominance. It also saw the holiday change from Armistice Day to “Veterans Day” in 1954 in honor of those who represent service, sacrifice, loyalty, and duty. When oriented toward noble ends, these are virtues indeed.
Being patriotic on a day like November 11 must mean more than flag-waving with no actions or commitments. Republics don’t need patriotism for the sake of patriotism; they need citizens who love their neighbors and do their duty for their communities. These kinds of citizens will fight for their country because it represents their homes.
If we view Veterans Day as merely an opportunity to honor those who have fought in wars, then we miss the deeper meaning of November 11. We miss the insights of soldiers like Wilfred and Martin and the greater objectives of seeking peace, practicing charity, and protecting human dignity. The soldier who fights for these things will never be engaged in a futile cause.
The complete piece is available here: https://lawliberty.org/a-saint-for-veterans-day/
Steele Brand is a 2022-23 Garwood Visiting Fellow at Princeton University’s James Madison Program and an associate professor of History in the PPE Program at The King’s College. Publications include Killing for the Republic: Citizen-Soldiers and the Roman Way of War (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2019).
