#RomâniaNeUnește | What patriotism really means. The message sent by a Romanian general decorated by the USA, NATO and the UN
General (r) Dan Grecu is president of the Romanian Reserve Officers Association. He was in Afghanistan, Iraq, Eritrea and Ethiopia and was decorated in turn by the United States of America, the UN and NATO. He explains, for “The Truth”, what patriotism means in his vision and what each of us can do for the country.
General Dan Grecu. PHOTO: Personal archive
General (r) Dan Grecu has an international experience that is highlighted best by the three missions outside the national territory as a military observer in the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE), head of the National Team at the American Central Command (US CENTCOM) for the operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and head of the Romanian Liaison Team at the Southern Regional Command of ISAF in Kandahar, Afghanistan. They all totaled three years in these activities, thus being recognized as a “military veteran”.
But his experience is also important academically. General Dan Grecu graduated from a series of important courses in the country and abroad. He followed, for example, the “Interdisciplinary Cooperation in Peacekeeping Operations” course at the Lester B. Pearson Center, Cornwallis, Canada, the “Crisis Management” course organized by the NATO International Staff in Brussels and the NATO Defense College in Rome. Also, General Grecu holds a master's degree at the University of Bucharest, Faculty of Sociology and a doctorate in military sciences and information at the National Defense University.
What does patriotism mean to General Dan Grecu
All this recommends him to express an opinion related to patriotism on the occasion of Romania's National Day. General Dan Grecu confesses that the way he understood and understands patriotism has evolved over time. Compared to the time when he first took the oath to the country, with the years and the accumulated experience, his ideas have been deepened.
“When I reached a fairly young age, but which already allowed me to issue value judgments, even if probably insufficiently substantiated, I understood patriotism as the expression of love for the country and the nation, respect for the multi-millenary history of the inhabitants of Romania, respect for traditions and, last but not least, respect for all those who were with me, closer or more distant, but Romanians and implicitly people with the same values and ideals as me. Later I understood that being a patriot means and to take responsibility for the recognized and assumed values and, certainly, this thought led my future life to enlist myself among those who swore allegiance to the country and the people with their hand on the flag, putting their own lives on the line in defense of this fundamental objective, an oath that I have kept for all the 41 years that I have worn the military uniform and I still respect it today”. says General Dan Grecu.
Currently, he also says, the notion of patriotism has suffered. The clashing ideologies and the emergence of parties that tried to exploit everything in their favor led to its dilution. This is how patriotism has come to be considered by some to be obsolete or specific only to certain political parties or ideas, when, in fact, patriotism should be the same for everyone.
What is not good in Romania
“What does patriotism still mean today? The hard question! The ideological upheaval, the misunderstood globalization, the degradation of national education at all levels, the ostracism under various adjectives of those who continue to put the Motherland first, the offensive of anti-national currents of neo-Marxist origin, the chronic impotence of political decision-makers in recent decades to respond to the needs of citizens, the promotion of anti- and non-values in parallel with the culpability of those who do not align have made patriotism should become a fault and not a value”explains the general.
Today, Romania is unfortunately a polarized country. And not only that. Romania does not understand very well the importance of the military that should defend it. General Dan Grecu was awarded numerous national and international decorations and medals. Among the national ones, we mention the National Order “For Merit” in the rank of knight and officer, the “Military Virtue” Medal in the rank of knight, the honorary medals for 15, 20 and 25 years of service, the Emblems of Honor of the Romanian Army, the Ministry of National Defense, the General Staff, the General Staff of the Land Forces and the General Staff of the Air Forces.
Internationally, he was decorated by the USA, the UN and NATO, in turn. It is about the US Army Commendation Medal, the UN Medal with the sign “2 silver” for the UNMEE mission and the NATO medal for “non article five” operations. However, he believes that the military are not respected in Romania, evidenced by the fact that military pensions are constantly being talked about as special pensions, although, he says, this is not the case, and recently there has been talk of budget cuts, including that of Defense. president of the Association of Reserve Officers from Romania, he cannot help but take a stand.
“We talk about resilience, but we are envious of the different social or professional categories, we talk about reforms and lower the standard of living of every Romanian by tens of percents as a result of decisions made with a pen, we honor the predecessors, but we remove them from history and replace them with those with whom we have neither in the palm of our hands nor in our sleeves, we talk about national defense and we do not provide the necessary personnel, but we reduce the salaries of those in the activity and we blame and declare those who have dedicated decades of their lives to national defense as insensible. This is where patriotism is at this moment, and it is also measured”adds the general.
What solutions does he see?
The solutions are seemingly simple, but in reality, quite complicated. General Dan Grecu also explains what needs to be done, in his opinion.
“What is to be done? It's both simple, it's also hard! It's simple, returning as quickly as possible to the values that have defined this nation over time. It's hard, because long years of enmity, social and national disunity, and ambiguous government no longer provide the necessary platform. Will patriotism return to its place among Romanians? Theoretically yes, but that means becoming independent and solidary people again, because the term is still in vogue, and especially to Let's see the straw in our eyes and promote human value and not obscure interests. With love on National Day, Dan Grecu, Romanian citizen.” said the general at last.
