Establish this Constitution

>> Col. Patrick Biggs: My name is Colonel Patrick Biggs of the United States Army. I have been on active duty for 23 years, and I am currently a national security affairs fellow at the Hoover Institution. Family has always been a deep part of who I am. As the oldest of 25 grandchildren, I felt a responsibility to look out for my cousins.

This was a responsibility and a privilege that I took seriously, and I always let them know that I would be there to look after them. In 2003, at the age of 25, I faced my first deployment to Iraq as a platoon leader. As the eve of my departure approached, I made a trip to rural Utah to visit my family and create lasting memories before heading halfway across the world.

When I took my cousins out for ice cream, my five year old cousin asked me, why do you have to go over there? This was a question I had thought deeply about, so I kneeled down and replied, I'm going because there are people out there who need my help and I want to take care of them.

But his next question caught me off guard. He asked, who will look after us while you're gone? Despite having never considered this question, I knew what the answer was right away. I told him not to worry, that I have thousands of brothers and sisters in the army who will be here to protect our family if you ever need them.

I said that if he needed help, someone would be there, and that was all he needed to hear. That answer settled everything for him. Satisfied with the answer, he went about finishing his ice cream and talking about his plans for the pillow fort he wanted to build when we got home.

But despite my answer, his simple, yet surprisingly profound question lingered in my consciousness. It was a reminder of the sacrifices needed to turn the ideals enshrined and the United States constitution into reality. Natural rights, liberty, and self governance are lofty ideals. However, without the necessary commitment to maintain those ideals, they are not much more than words on paper.

The preamble declares that we do ordain and establish this constitution. We have established our Constitution because we acknowledge and honor that commitment to guarantee our rights and protect our liberty. Whether serving in Washington, Texas, California, or deployed overseas in Korea, Iraq, or Jordan, I am always reminded of what it takes to make our exceptional nation possible.

I will always remember that I am never alone in sharing that commitment. Service is more than an individual endeavor. It is a shared responsibility, a cooperative effort towards a common goal. To this day, my family remains at the core of my being. Now my cousins are grown and have started their own families.

While I have been blessed with children of my own in our military family, my kids have grown up understanding the value of community and, most importantly, the ceaseless effort it requires to keep our communities strong. With every mission, we carry the spirit of the constitution. As service members across all branches of the military, we are voluntarily bound by our shared commitment to not only embody the principles that make our nation great, but to ensure that our rights and liberties are more than words on paper.