Originally Posted by cmac2012

Webster may or may not have been the first to say it, he was certainly not the last.

Here is my favorite version of the statement:

AUTHOR: Carl Schurz (1829–1906)

QUOTATION: The Senator from Wisconsin cannot frighten me by exclaiming, “My country, right or wrong.” In one sense I say so too. My country; and my country is the great American Republic. My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right.

ATTRIBUTION: Senator CARL SCHURZ, remarks in the Senate, February 29, 1872, The Congressional Globe, vol. 45, p. 1287.

You place way too much faith in some sort of divine guidance that automatically descends on all men in uniform in the service of this nation. What sort of " lawful" order would you consider to be actually unlawful? You think an American soldier will never be confronted with a situation where the entire campaign amounts to an unlawful order? I maintain (surprise, surprise) that it has happened.

MedMech's statement is often heard -- I put no words in his mouth, I merely point out that the two statements are strongly linked -- the soldier serving in any and all wars, no exceptions, has essentially signed on to the "my country, right or wrong” clause.