I Am An American

I am an American.
 
I have proudly worn the uniform of the United States Army in service to my country. I have slogged through jungles and endured scorching desert heat. I have bled for my country.

I have traveled the world and proudly declared my citizenship with my passport which is imprinted with the words “Unites States of America.”

I have looked with pride at the response of my countrymen and my government’s elected leaders at the rapid response to help those in need all over the globe.

I am an American.

I am proud of my country.

I only wish I could continue to say I am proud of my government’s leaders.

The sad truth is we are a government without true leaders.

Our leaders once had vision, compassion, daring and integrity. Our leaders once led us to become the most wealthy, productive nation on the planet. And, the most respected.

Today that respect has all but vanished. Our leaders have alienated our allies, squandered our wealth and reduced productivity to primarily the increasing of wealth for a few at the expense of majority.

Respect that was earned over decades has nearly vanished in less than a thousand days.

I am still an American.

I am still proud.

And, I still harbor hope we will again have men and women who will lead our great republic back to its place in history as a nation “of the people, for the people and by the people”. A nation that leads by example and not by the arrogance of power.

Reflections on the 4th of July

The Declaration of Independence is 236 years old today. A comparatively small group of patriots who believed in freedom and liberty and the right to choose took on the mightiest power in the world at the time, against all odds, and won.

            What followed is a Constitution unlike any other on the planet. The freedoms guaranteed in that document are unrivaled. Tens of thousands of this country’s finest have died defending it and hundreds of thousands have shed their blood for what it stands for.

            Our great nation was founded on principles few had ever dreamed would become reality. The promises our Declaration of Independence and The Constitution hold are considered the very basis of freedom.

            Now more than two centuries later we must continue to be vigilant. To maintain what our founding fathers left as their legacy to the world. Over the past decades it seems our Constitution has been the victim of erosion.

Presidents, Congress and even our Courts have worn away our rights just as the surf washes away the sand from a beach.

On this 4^th of July we must all stand with Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Payne, John Adams, John Hancock and Francis Lightfoot Lee and the rest of the courageous patriots who signed the Declaration of Independence. And James Madison, George Washington and the others who forged our Constitution to insure our country regain its promise to all and continue to be a beacon of true freedom. We must hold our elected and appointed officials accountable and to the same standard set by the men who forged our nation and founded The United States of America.