Occasionally, I listen to the silence around me. It’s similar to the moment before all hell breaks loose and you’re involved in one of the most frightening moments of your life.
I spent 28 ½ years as a police officer, supervisor, school resource officer and trainer for cops and security guards from all over the state. It was a privilege, an honor, to be associated with these fine men and women. They always ran toward the dangers when all others run away. These are my people and I miss some of them more than others because as the saying goes: All gave some while some gave all.
Those who ended their final watch will always be missed. They’ll always be honored. They can’t be forgotten. The honor they bestowed on us as survivors is so much less than the honor they deserve for their sacrifice.
Now, as I think of my names sitting on a Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. and on a granite edifice in front of the courthouse, the sense of loss is almost palpable. I can taste it in the tears falling now. I miss them, but I know I have to continue. Their work protecting people weaker for their ignorance and endangerment for not understanding the real-world threats only veterans and cops understand fully is still real, and something we all need to be aware of.
This is America, the land born of immigrants and natives alike. It’s a land of pure beauty and indescribable opportunity. It’s our home; our past, our future and our wealth so many of us have forgotten to appreciate. It’s worth fighting any enemy foreign or domestic for the right to be free. It’s the land of the free because of the sacrifice of the brave. It’s our responsibility to be the best we can be and the best we can become as we teach OUR values to OUR children. The instruction of those values is NOT the responsibility of schools, or government hacks sitting on their perceived thrones as they try endlessly to advance beyond the right given them by our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
This is America, a place where we can be proud of our accomplishments and revel in the glory of a simple statement so few have the right to claim: I am an American Citizen. It’s responsibility. It’s a sense of reliability you can know I have your back. I pray you have mine. It’s a trust that we, as brothers and sisters, will do nothing to lessen the understanding this land is ours to love hold and protect. Some will try to beat her down, deny her majesty and try bringing America down to the level of third-rate European standards.
The United States of America is the indicator of what this world should strive to become in its pursuit of liberty and justice for all. But you can’t simply come here and proclaim you have the right to be here. You must pledge your allegiance to America. Make your oath to America and your brothers and sisters. You have to prove you deserve the privilege of being here by the proclamation of your intent to stand for her core values and beliefs. You must understand that we Americans will always seek to be the best. We will always seek to lead. We will always be out in front where others fear to walk. We will march resolutely; and with pride.
We will declare to the world that even our mistakes can be corrected because nobody gets it right the first time, every time. We elected an inconsequential loser with delusions of grandeur. We found we accepted the lies of duplicitous and self-aggrandizing politicians looking to supplant the majesty of this land for their own base instincts and the chance to gain more at our expense. We have been lied to, and now is the time to make everybody understand: This indignity will not stand!
For those who say we need transparency, you’ve gotten your wish.
We can see right through you. Beware our anger. Now we must give more back to America.
Thanks for listening
