I have been to the jungles so thick with hard woods and vines our machetes became nicked from trying to cut it through. Tolerating swarms of mosquitoes, wading through putrid swamp waters as poisonous snakes swam by. Sleeping in humid jungle so thick that even in daylight the light was colored dark green; the night so dark and ominous with every creature found in nightmares coming out to feed. The humidity like a smothering blanket that quickly turned steel to rust.
I have suffered the heat of the great deserts of Arabia, where at night the temperature would drop drastically making it bitter cold. Sandstorms that clog machinery and blast the skin until it burns, visibility even with goggles almost zero.
I have trained to fight in mountains and northern climates where winter is extreme and the snow so deep that snowshoes and skis were the only way to traverse the cold and bitter terrain; at night sleeping in a warm arctic tent to be awoken to serve watch in subzero temperatures that make the mind numb and the breath frozen.
I have trained and fought in streets of urban development where an enemy may hide to ambush, making it as dangerous as any thick jungle.
I have traversed around and sometimes through rice paddies, meant to grow staple food that feed the people, and witnessed simple people who just want to live life in peace see their land and homes destroyed by friend and foe alike.
I have witnessed starving children crying and people wounded in body and soul wondering when the suffering will end.
In the final analysis, no matter who starts it, war is ugly and wasteful – and most often senseless.
Young Americans have joined the military, some drafted by order of the government, during the last seven decades to fight in foreign places for other people who in the end never, for the most part, appreciate the sacrifice of American military personnel in the name of stopping tyranny and oppression. Those wars after World War II were fought to prevent tyranny that could spread and cause another Pearl Harbor; but on September 11th, 2001 it happened again. It was a declaration of war that Americans never fought before against an enemy who wear no specific uniform, and like the Imperial Japanese soldier, gladly die in order to win favor in the afterlife- all in the name of a God that is universal with different names in over 80 languages and dialects and does not separate humanity by region, race or politics.
The United States of America began with war, a conflict to gain independence because options had run out and patience with it. It was a war against tyranny, and an unwritten code was formed that culminated into future promises to other people of other nations that We the People, American citizens, would send our youth to fight tyranny, allied troops fighting for freedom of all.
We can no longer afford economically as other nation's peace keepers; nor should we ask our soldiers to fight in other nation's wars unless that war is declared constitutionally by the United States Congress. Our record of foreign affairs has not fared well in ending for the reasons our government involved our soldiers from the beginning. We should remember what Ronald Reagan said about strength in defense helps keep peace and deters tyrants.
The United Nations has forgotten who initiated its founding and why it was created. Its record shows little good results to the point that if it was a private enterprise, it would have been dissolved. The goal of its committees is to form a world government, something that has been called the New World Order; but would not be formed by wisdom and lessons learned in history the founders of the United States had accomplished.
While we send our troops to fight in foreign lands, the enemy enters our homeland, not to assimilate, but to subvert; while Americans and those we elect to operate our government avert their attention elsewhere, and through naivety, treachery, and political blindness allow the United States to be literally invaded – adding to the corruption of a society that has chosen to corrupt itself.
I do not regret the long period of time I served in the US military, but I do condemn our government from not learning from past mistakes. It is insanity, said Albert Einstein, to continue on the same path and expect different results.
I detest war and would seek any means except capitulation to tyranny to prevent it; and readily train for it in case it should come – all the while praying that training would not be applied.
How can the people of any nation think they can remain strong from enemies from without when they ignore the enemies from within, setting aside the principled values, moral and civic, that made our nation so great from the beginning?
How can people of any nation think that a divided nation can stand?
How can people of any nation think that without the benefit of a family nucleus raising children with virtues and the international agreement of the Golden Rule that their nation can remain civilized and strong?
Common sense was the key factor that bound the strength for the foundation of the United States, and what people can think that without it there can be a strong nation?
We have allowed those who operate our government form factions that have created educational institutions that do not inspire freedom of choice, teach that truth can only be revealed by those that govern us, and truth is not allowed if it offends others who believe that government can run their lives better than they can themselves.
It is said that the value of something is not realized until it is lost, and in most cases, the loss can never be recovered. Such is the story of the rights and liberties established by the wise men we call the founders and written clearly on parchment in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States and its amendments; the first ten amendments being called the Bill of Rights. The founders knew that democracy in its purest form is merely the rule of men and the mob, while a republic with a strong constitution can withstand the sands of time if it is not polluted and diluted by those elected by the People.
All of this is lost to a generation and the words of Ronald Reagan who had faith in the people of the United States, ring ever so true in these troubling times – freedom is only one generation away from being lost.
After all, the tyrants know that if lies are big enough and told often enough they become believed; and so the generation who cannot dwell or comprehend lost liberties if they are not aware of or never experienced them. Loss of freedom is not always lost because of revolution or coups; because tyrants know that the loss is more binding if the populace loses it slowly – always in the declaration to be beneficial to the People.
If I was young enough to be called to war undeclared by Congress and based upon corrupted foreign affairs today, I would have to refuse – not out of fear, but of principle and the rule of law. And I would ask fellow citizens to do the same, because if the United States is to truly help other nations, it must first take care of itself.
Another revolution is called for, but this time it must be fought with the voice of the People and determination to adhere to the oaths to preserve and protect the rule of law – the Constitution of the United States. That is worth fighting for. It can only be attained by a united people, not divided by skin pigmentation, political correctness, or the mechanization of socialists and communists or people who naively accept collectivism over individualism.
It would be a loss not just to the American people, but to the world, if we allow our constitutional republic that became so successful in such a short period of a long history of civilization to fall into the dusty bin of history.
The “ME” generation does not understand what JFK meant when he said ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.
Your country is not the government, an instrument to be wielded By the People; but it is the People – a people united under one flag representing the people and one language having the same principles that makes a great civilization.
Think about it.
This biography of America's 44th president, entitled "Barack Obama," is written by Jane Sutcliffe and published by Lerner. The book is part of Scholastic's "Reading Counts" program acceptable to the controversial Common Core curriculum standards.
