Earn This!

Honoring 250 years of freedom and sacrifice

An old man kneels in front of a white marble cross in Normandy.

“Tell me I’ve led a good life,” James Ryan asks his wife. “Tell me I’m a good man.”

He’s not really asking his wife. He’s asking the men who died so he could live.

Captain Miller’s final words echo in his mind:

“Earn this.”

Saving Private Ryan is one of the best films of all time. Three of Private James Ryan’s (Matt Damon) brothers had already been killed in the war, leaving him as the sole surviving sibling. The Army decided to send Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) on a mission to find Ryan and get him out of combat, sparing the family from potentially losing all four of their children.

In the film’s closing scene, 50 years after the war, an elderly James Ryan kneels beside Capt. Miller’s grave at the American Military Cemetery in Normandy.

“Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge. And I’ve tried to live my life the best I could. I hope that was enough. I hope that at least in your eyes, I’ve earned what all of you have done for me.”

As America approaches its 250th birthday, I’ve been thinking an awful lot about those two words: Earn this.

The Founding Fathers understood that freedom wasn’t an abstract idea. When they pledged “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor,” they meant it.

Nine of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence died during the Revolutionary War. Half of them lost their wealth because they had the audacity to throw off the shackles of the crown to live as free men.

For 250 years, generation after generation of Americans has continued that tradition of selfless sacrifice. Some gave their lives on battlefields from Yorktown to Gettysburg to Fallujah. Others built businesses, taught children, raised families, discovered medicines, volunteered in their communities, or simply did the quiet work of being good citizens. Each generation inherited an America that they left a little stronger for posterity.

This legacy of sacrifice has blessed us with the amazing country that we have today. If you are an American, you have won the human lottery!

There’s a reason why millions of people from around the world want to come to the USA. It’s because we are a great nation, a blessed nation, not perfect, but forever striving to be better.

The sacrifice that Miller made for Private Ryan resonates for me today. What is it that I can do for our nation?

Of course no one person can solve all of our problems, but there are plenty of things that we CAN do as we aspire to become a more perfect union.

Engage with our political leaders. Heck, run for office yourself, I did! Talk with your neighbors. Stay informed and understand the difference between noise and reality. Get out of your comfort zone and your information echo chamber. Subscribe to a newspaper! Support community organizations, or start one yourself.

The bottom line is that freedom isn’t free, and its foundation is personal responsibility. When citizens stop engaging in their communities, staying informed, and holding leaders accountable, society begins to break down. Let’s not go there.

In 250 years, many great Americans have changed the world through their words. From George Washington to Abraham Lincoln to MLK, American thought leadership and idealism have shaped the course of human history. One speech stands out to me for its call to action.

President John F. Kennedy in his inauguration speech implored us all: “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.”

I know that my country has given me much more than I could ever give back. I’ve had the privilege of flying the F-16, of spending seven months in outer space as a NASA astronaut, of raising two awesome kids who are now achieving their own full potential, and I am sure that there’s still more to come for me.

None of those blessings for me and my family would have happened without the toil and sacrifices of previous generations.

I could never pay a even a fraction back, to the Patriots of 1776 who dared to dream of liberty, to the Union volunteers who died so that the words “all men are created equal” would become reality, to the soldiers who waded ashore at Normandy to defeat evil, or to so many others.

But I can be a better citizen, I can be more engaged with my neighbors, I can strive to understand other points of view, and I can communicate with our political leaders. Those things will leave America in better shape than when I was fortunate to be born here.

Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial

After Normandy, James Ryan spent the rest of his life wondering whether he had earned Captain Miller’s sacrifice.

Maybe that was the wrong question.

None of us can ever fully repay those who came before us.

But we can honor them. We can leave this country stronger than we found it. We can serve our communities. We can defend liberty. We can raise strong families. We can be worthy stewards of the remarkable inheritance every American has received.

This Independence Day, America turns 250.

Our mission is the same as Private James Ryan’s.

Earn this.