Teach Liberty

Parents in the United States have the responsibility to teach the principles of liberty to their children. Ronald Reagan said, "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States when men were free."

My grandparents' generation fought World War I - the Great War or the war to end all wars. My parents' generation fought World War II. The heroes from these wars came home to parades and honors. My father was too old to serve in the military, but he left home and family to find work in order to provide for them. He ended up thousands of miles away in Alaska working for a railroad. He was on a crew that blasted tunnels through mountains in order that the railroad could reach the town of Whittier in Prince William Sound. Whittier was a more hidden port to which military supplies could be shipped, and a railroad through the mountains would be less likely to be bombed than one that crossed the mountains.

My generation was a mixed up group. We had the hippies who were rebelling from the life their parents had provided for them. The previous generation made great sacrifices and endured much hardship, and they wanted a better life for their children. The children, however, rejected the life that their parents offered, and some of those rebellious children hold leadership positions in our nation today. They are still in rebellion from the lives of their parents and are now trying to "fundamentally transform our nation."

My generation also fought the Vietnam War - a war we could have won and should have won if it had not become politicized. Our military heroes came home from this war to jeers and disrespect.

My children have known three wars - the Gulf War, the Iraq War, and the Afghanistan War. Even though these wars are not popular, the people at least support the military. For this I am very grateful!

There are people who want to destroy America and liberty. We must fight for and protect the freedoms we enjoy in order that our children and grandchildren can also enjoy them. We do not want them to grow up in a socialist nation because we want them to be free. We want them to love the United States, and we want them to know that America is the greatest nation on earth.

When Benjamin Franklin left the Constitutional Convention, he was asked if the framers had created a monarchy or a republic. He answered, "A republic - if you can keep it."

Can we keep our republic? In the "olden days" the people who came to America wanted to be Americans. Today we have many people who think so little of America that they come here illegally, do not assimilate, have stickers on their cars saying that they "love" another country, fly a flag of another country, and seem to want to make America into whatever country they left.

True Americans love the United States and are grateful to be here. Are you an American or do you just live in America? I believe it is up to each true American to do something - anything - that will help our nation to stay free. We can no longer afford to sit idly by and talk of trivial things. This is a time to persuade ourselves, our posterity, and our friends to come to the aid of our nation. We must plant our flag and make our stand - or we will lose the opportunity to do so. If we stand tall now, we will never have to face our children and grandchildren and explain why we didn't do anything to save our republic. It is time for all true Americans to stand tall and to come to the aid of their country!