The Oath of Enlistment, 1966
Robin Lake
Pinehurst, Idaho
December 09, 2011
On the morning of July 28, 1966, at the US Army Recruitment Center in Spokane, Washington, I was standing in the midst of about 60 other young men. Many of us had come to Spokane from our home towns the day before and had stayed the night to be there at the requisit hour the following morning. We had already undergone physical exams, written testing, and a little psychological evaluation. Within minutes we would undergo a life-altering event, and become, temporarily, the property of the US Army. It would happen when we recited the following words.
I, Robin Lake, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
Some words we say are meant to express sentiment that will last forever, or, at least, as long as we draw enough breath to give life to those words. Words like, "I love you, ...," "... love, honor and cherish ...," "Thanks, Dad!"
That Oath is one of those things. My enlistment was for six years; three years active, three years inactive. The Oath, however, carried no such time limit. It was forever, though I didn't know it at the time. It was not until many years later, when I saw my country being abused by the very people who should have been taking care of it, that I recalled taking that oath. I then went to the internet to find the exact wording, and to remind myself what I had committed myself to.