I must be getting older because I can remember better days, but they seem like years ago. I remember:
- I remember a time when you did not have to lock your door at night or when you left for the day. I am sure there were those who would have stolen from us, but the neighbors were watchful, and we cared for each other.
- I remember when you could make a deal with a handshake rather than having a bevy of lawyers write a contract that contained hidden fine print, opening the door for litigation.
- I remember when being patriotic was commendable and even something to be desired rather than viewed as outdated and obsolete.
- I remember when everyone stood when the National Anthem was being played. The men removed their hats, and everyone placed their hands over their hearts with pride.
- I remember when marriage was considered sacred and honorable, unlike today when many choose to test drive the relationship before entering into marriage.
- I remember when giving a full day’s work for a day’s pay was normal, unlike today when giving as little as possible to get as much as possible is not only acceptable but expected.
- I remember when there was time to take walks, read books, sit around the table with family or friends, and break bread without a cell phone ringing with another text or call.
- I remember when we received news about the well-being of others either by letter or personal visit rather than via text, email, Facebook, or tweets.
- I remember when everyone knew everyone in the neighborhood, and if you had a project or need, they were ready and willing to pitch in and help.
- I remember when teachers in school cared about educating a child and ensuring that they knew how to read and write rather than just making a grade on a standardized test for Public Relations purposes, federal funds, and grants.
- I remember when getting a toy at Christmas was a special treat.
- I remember when you could pray in school and recite the pledge of allegiance to the flag.
- I remember a great many things that do not seem to exist any longer.
I will never forget returning home from Vietnam in December of 1967. I was unprepared for what I would experience in San Francisco, California. Students from Berkley University lined a fence that we had to go past. They commenced throwing various things, including body fluids, at us. Everyone but two of us were on gurneys or wheelchairs.
The incredible anger that welled inside my being was uncontainable. It was assuredly not righteous indignation, although it was the right thing to feel compared to what they were doing.
That crowd contained about three hundred protesters, and the two of us were going over the fence into the crowd when the military police stopped us. They said, “It is a good thing they took your weapons before you boarded the plane to come home.” Wisdom was not part of my makeup at that moment; anger was! We were returning home from a war that our country asked us to go and fight.
I lost friends in that faraway land and know many who will be scarred for life, not just from the war but the treatment they received when returning home. We were not there because we were warmongers but because we were patriotic and found it unconscionable to burn our draft cards, and fleeing to Canada or any other country was not an option.
I am eternally grateful for the honor and love shown to WW II veterans when they returned from that war. The Greatest Generation made a colossal sacrifice to free us, and I am grateful. I was equally thankful when the Gulf War veterans returned home and were honored and shown respect by most Americans.
However, I can still hear the words of people like Hanoi Jane Fonda calling those of us who served in Vietnam baby killers, murderers, and rapists in her broadcast from Hanoi. In any earlier generation, she would have likely been tried for treason. By that time, America had begun a significant move in the wrong direction in our ideology, views, and morals.
The men and women who served in Iraq and Afghanistan deserved and deserve our full support and respect. My blood boils, even now, when I hear someone defame or discredit our veterans. There was a time when burning the American flag was considered a treasonous act, and one committed that atrocity at their own peril.
Gone are the days when people were expected to make their own way in life and pay for what they got. We have almost reached the point where most of our society expects the government to provide everything free! Gone is the era when the only expectation of the government was to protect and defend this country, maintain domestic tranquility, and allow free enterprise to be just that—free enterprise.
Gone are the days when we were not taxed to the point of having to work from January to August to pay the taxes. Gone are the days when most in Congress realized that the present system was immoral, illegal, and unconstitutional. The hidden taxes, regulations, and fees are stifling.
There was a time when the Constitution of the United States of America was the governing document of our Republic, and only the Bible held more authority for most. Today, it seems that this administration intends to completely dismantle and destroy the very document that provided for this incredible Republic, under God, to become a beacon of hope for the world. The American Dream has been a prize that most people of the world desire and seek to participate in, often at the risk of their own lives.
What happened to the view that communism and tyrannical despots who do not value human life are evil? When did we lose our value for human life? Some would insist that my memories are nothing more than nostalgic fantasy and a view of a time that never existed. We are being told in this modern era that it is time to scuttle the Constitution, cast off our Judeo-Christian values, set aside our ethics, and become nothing more than pawns of a tyrannical government that controls everything and everyone.
As a Christian and a patriotic Vietnam veteran, I cannot sit idly by and watch this nation be stolen without a fight. We must use our tools wisely to combat this encroachment on our freedom. The sinister nature of this growing evil requires our attention. They desire to dispense of our founding principles and transform America into something other than the Free Constitutional Republic it has been and still is.
It is time for each of us who pray and believe in prayer to begin interceding as never before. It is time for us all to become involved in the political arena because politics is life. It is time for us to return to our moral moorings and stand on our principles and faith as never before. We may never have the “good old days” again, but we can turn the tide and take back our liberty!
It is truly up to us to fight this fight! I have four anchors: My Faith, My Family, My Friends, and My Freedom! I will not go quietly. I love America and desire to remain and live free, and I want everyone else in America to have that experience!
God bless you, and God bless America!