Teens sacrifice their Saturday to display precision, honor

Honor, courage and commitment were on display at the Sooner Stakes Junior ROTC Drill Meet on Saturday.

Ten Oklahoma schools were represented at the meet, organized by Oklahoma City Public Schools and held at Northeast Academy, 3100 N Kelley Ave.

Students ages 13 to 18 displayed the routines that had taken months of work and required hundreds of hours of dedication to perfect.

"This is a Saturday morning, and you've got hundreds of kids out here. That says something,” said Lt. Col. Paul Green of Northwest Classen High School's JROTC.

Although "JROTC participation incurs no obligation to join the military," the same reference on Wikipedia quotes February 2000 Congressional testimony as saying that "30%–50% of graduating JROTC cadets go on to join the military."

Plus, given the "hundreds of hours of dedication [required] to perfect" the routines, I think it's quite safe to say that these kids "sacrificed" a lot more than a Saturday morning, and that 30% to 50% of them will ultimately sacrifice a lot more—maybe all they have—in service of their country.

Where does the word sacrifice even come from?

Etymology: Middle English sacrifise, sacrifice, from Old French, from Latin sacrificium, from sacri- (from sacr-, sacer sacred) + -ficium (akin to Latin -ficare -fy) -- more at SACRED

OK, let's look at sacred:

Etymology: Middle English, from past participle of sacren to consecrate, from Old French sacrer, from Latin sacrare, from sacr-, sacer sacred, holy, cursed; akin to Latin sancire to make sacred, Hittite saklais rite, custom

Sacred seems plain enough, but what about that Latin suffix -ficium or -ficare, or its English version, -fy?

The verb suffix -fy, which means “to make or cause to become,” derives from Latin ficare or ficari, from facere, meaning “to do or make.” Thus purify means “to make pure, cleanse,” (coming from Latin purificare, from purus, “clean,” plus ficare). In English the suffix -fy now normally takes the form -ify: acidify, humidify, speechify. Verbs ending in -fy often have related nouns that end in -fication or -faction: magnify, magnification; satisfy, satisfaction.

The word sacrifice, therefore, comes from words meaning "to at or perform a duty to make something sacred," like sanctify. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary:

Sense of "something given up for the sake of another" is first recorded 1592.

American soldiers, in their proudest traditions, make real sacrifices for the service of their country. Whether those who ordered them into battle were correct or not, a soldier's willingness to sacrifice for his countrymen is worthy of respect. Actual ROTC cadets do the same. JROTC is a stepping stone to that, and while it's more about self-improvement than sacrifice, in its best incarnations it instills the idea that putting yourself on the line for those things in which you believe is moral and honorable.

Showing up on a Saturday to exhibit what you've learned is not a "sacrifice" of any kind, and using the word that way demeans the real sacrifices our military has made for hundreds of years. I'll buy that these kids "sacrificed" hundreds of hours of their free time to learn discipline, teamwork, and precision, and even honor. Even if it's mostly for their own benefit (and comes with no military obligation), they gave up what they could have been doing to benefit their teams.

But "Teens sacrifice their Saturday?" You sure don't see Lt. Col. Green quoted as saying that, and the Oklahoman shouldn't have said it, either. Headlining this "Teens sacrifice their Saturday" is really lowering the bar for what we think "sacrifice" is, especially in regards to military service. "Sure, those 4000 soldiers in Iraq sacrificed everything to serve, but these kids sacrificed too!"

It's not the same thing, and no one actually involved with it is even hinting that it was.

(Yes, I had the bloggy bug this afternoon. Blame caffeine. Off to work shortly.)