The soldier's speech

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You speak before us of peace, and hope. You speak of culture and sophistication. Of history and our own place in it.
Do not look to us for these values. We are neither artisans nor poets. We are neither vain hedonists nor barbaric. We are not the lazy flag, fluttering in the wind. Nor the walls that stand, proud and thick.
We are the bedrock of the future. And upon our bones will tomorrow be built.
We will bring peace to these lands, by the scruff, bound and bloodied, if necessary. We will bring hope, but for those yet to come. Of our deeds will tales and poems be sung. Our place in history will not be granted to us by kindly historians. Instead, our wars and our actions will sear our place into the very heart of the accounting given of these years.
We will stride across the world and make our own mark in it.
We do not wish for glory or fond remembrance. We do not seek a life of battle or death on the battlefield. We will not bow, before God or man, before that right is earned.
In the darkness of this long night will we stand watch, a silent sentinel, upon the borders forged by our father and their fathers before them. And so it shall be, that our children will stand, a little taller than us, upon our graves too.
So, dear Lords, please feel free to continue your petty squabbling. We do not dabble with the lives of men. Our tapestry will be woven of a fabric much stronger than mere words or pithy speeches.
With this, I seek your leave.

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