CNN national security analyst John Kirby, a retired rear admiral in the US Navy, was a spokesman for both the State and Defense departments in the Obama administration. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

(CNN) In a Washington Post opinion piece, Richard Spencer -- the recently-fired Secretary of the Navy -- describes in stunning detail the degree to which President Trump involved himself in the case of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL acquitted of murdering an ISIS captive but convicted of posing for a photo with the boy's corpse.

John Kirby

It's a troubling account of what Spencer calls "shocking and unprecedented interference" by the Commander-in-Chief. But that's not the line that grabbed my attention. What set me to thinking was something he writes near the end: "We must now move on and learn from what has transpired."

Spencer does not identify the "we," nor does he really offer any lessons learned. He mentions the need to have faith in our "extensive screening procedures" and asks our allies to be patient with us. But there is little prescription for the civil-military malady he diagnoses.

I wonder if part of the problem is that "we" -- as a nation -- haven't fully come to grips with the effects of fighting terrorists overseas for the last 20 years. I wonder if, perhaps, we have forgotten who we are in the process.

I believe it has become too easy for some people to believe the military is beyond reproach. And I'm not just talking about civilians who never served and may feel a little unqualified -- perhaps even guilty -- about harboring critical views of the military, or those who serve. I'm talking about a small number of veterans who seem to think they belong to a privileged class of citizenry. They do not.

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