Memorial Day Thoughts
9/11 shocked us all. But most importantly, it made us aware of the fact that a war was being waged against our country. This war had been in progress for over twenty years before 9/11!
But the incompetence of our past leaders, incompetence of our intelligence agencies, the irresponsible, incompetent, and partisan leadership of our Congress, and more importantly the apathy of the American public in general allowed the aforementioned leaders of America to do nothing to halt the advance of our enemy.
Unlike most wars caused when one country attacks another, this war is far more dangerous and insidious. It is waged by an ideology that has spread its evil around the world. This evil is not content to destroy America. It is on a campaign "world wide" to destroy all Democratic and Christian nations throughout the world.
By preying on the world's poor and under developed nations, this evil enemy is growing in size like a cancer. It cannot be appeased. It cannot be reasoned with. It cannot be stopped unless aggressive actions are taken to remove its presence surgically before it devours everything and everyone that stands for or believes in personal freedom and rights. The objective of this evil is total domination or death, theirs or yours and mine!
There is only one thing that stands in the way of the goal of this evil, our men and women in our Military forces and those other men and women in the Military forces of the other countries who have joined us in a coalition to stop Al Qaida, the Islamic extremist, the terrorists, who would have succeeded by now were it not for the courage, determination, honor, convictions, and love of country and fellow mankind exhibited and shared by all the men and women in the Armed Forces throughout the free world who are willing to sacrifice "all" to protect those of us back home.
We all owe them our support and gratitude. They ask nothing from us but to be allowed to serve and even die, if necessary, to protect and defend us. These servicemen and women in the coalition forces and their families endure unimaginable hardships in the service of their country.
We can support them by sending them care packages, letters and cards. We can support them by forcing our elected officials to do their jobs instead of allowing them to continue to wage political battles that only undermine the efforts of defending our country. We can support them by voting in new representatives who will work for the common good of the country instead of a "political party!" We can support them by questioning the motives of those who offer dissent and at every turn attempt to stop the efforts of this administration and the next administration to do what is necessary to defend America. We can support them by making sure these efforts don't take away the very rights we fight for; but, we can also support them by making sure that in guarding those rights we are not allowing politicians and people with less American ideals from preying on our fears and blinding us to the truth of "their" intentions!
Lastly we can thank a soldier every time we encounter one by personally shaking his or her hand, helping his or her family back home, visiting those injured in our hospitals back home, and honoring the sacrifices of those who gave their all and now lay in the hallowed grounds of cemeteries throughout America!
Every time I see the motto, "God Bless America,' I think to myself, God Bless America and thank every service man and woman who made it all possible!
Thank you, all you brave and loyal men and women who place yourself willingly in harms way every minute of you life to keep me, mine, and our country safe. Thank you men and women in all the Armed Forces of the other Coalition forces who also selflessly defend the rights and freedoms of your own country. Thank you all the men and women in the Armed Forces of all the Coalition Forces who are putting your life on the line to help keep the world a free place for all. God Bless you and your families. Your sacrifices have not gone unnoticed.
Thank you to all the FAMILIES who have lost loved ones in this war. Thank you to my sister who lost her only child, PO 2nd Class Michael J. Gray. Thank you to all the CHILDREN who lost their Moms and Dads in this war. Please know what a hero and brave person they were. They are not gone as long as you and their country do not forget them!! Yours has been the biggest sacrifice of all next to your Mom or Dad. Please know that your Mommy or Daddy did not want to leave you. They did not lie to you when they told you they would be ok and they would come home safe. God took them home because they were needed as ANGELS. Always remember that your Mommy or Daddy loved you very much. They died as heroes making sure the world would be a safe place for you to grow up in and so you could one day have a family of your own and live in peace and freedom.
Lastly, much criticism has been offered against President Bush. I for one want to offer my thanks today. I will agree, as you yourself have stated, mistakes were made in this war. But mistakes are made by men and women of action. I don't care if weapons of mass destruction were found or not. That point is only a diversion from the real issue at hand, protecting and safe guarding America and the world from an enemy that would kill us all if it could; but certainly would take away our personal freedoms and rights if you had not acted as you did! There are no finite rules in war. You do the best you can at any given moment based on the tools at hand. You alter the plans for implementating the defense of our country as you determine with your advisors what is or is not working.
Mr. Bush, you have fought a two front war from the onset. You have fought that outside enemy and you have fought the enemy from within. Frankly, I am more afraid every day of the enemy from within. That enemy has tried to prevent you from successfully defending America for personal and political gain. Shame on them and God Bless you for your perseverance and determination. Many say you are the wrong man for the job. Many say you are not qualified. Many say you are not the right leader. You do not knuckle under to their every demand. You ignore partisan criticism. You allow your military leaders on the ground to "do their jobs." You listen to their advice. You keep politics out of your decisions though it has had an impact on your party because members of your party have shied away from making tough choices for their own political gain! You have been in the hardest and loneliest position for over three years with little cooperation and support from our elected officials who ought to be working with you, not against you. I say you were the right man, in the right place, at the right time!
Thank you Mr. Bush for doing the job you were elected to do! Thank you for holding the course when the media continues to be irresponsible and reports the news on the war fairly and objectively. Thank you for staying strong and holding the course when our elected officials refuse to approve the appointments for the positions in your administration that still await approval over half way through your term in an attempt to make you fail and look incompetent. Thank you for calling my family personally when my nephew was killed to offer your condolences when even our own representatives did not call. Thank you for not allowing the "progressive" movement that has taken over the Democratic party to succeed in making us fail in the defense of our nation. Thank you for not allowing the biased polls and ratings in the media draw you off course. Thank you for not putting political party ahead of our national welfare. To the rest of our elected officials who still refuse to put aside their personal and political agenda to do what is right for our country, shame on you. Just remember that "we, the people" have a long memory!
I want to apologize to our veterans. I had not intended to make any political statements in this post. But I could not in good conscience not add my remarks about Mr. Bush. Had he not been the leader he has been, many more of our brave men and women in the Armed Forces would have died in this war. We also would almost certainly be fighting at home many of the same battles you now fight in Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere. Every thing inside me makes me believe that.
Leave a Reply