Driving down the street, my street, not one flag came into view – perhaps I overlooked one, but it could be that not a person on this
lane is flying the flag, including me. So,
I traveled a few blocks to another street where I knew one
would be displayed as it has been ever since I can remember.
It was my mom and dad’s home – those folks from the
World War II era never forget; Old Glory was proudly waving
there.
Are we not at war? Aren’t our brave young men and women
risking their lives everyday – some making the ultimate
sacrifice to protect us? I feel ashamed that many of us who
enjoy our freedom, because of the efforts of these brave
young warriors, don’t do more to support them. After all,
it’s not that hard to fly the flag; and not just on some
special occasion, but every single day of the year!
The men and women who defend this nation deserve all the
support we can give them.
The national news media does its best to show the American
people only the bad things that are happening in this war on
terror. All we see is burning vehicles and violence – the
thugs and killers getting all the publicity. We never hear
of the good things that our soldiers have accomplished. Such
as new schools being built, in Iraq, over 300 of them. Over
90 new water facilities have been constructed and nearly 70
electrical facilities as well. The list of their
accomplishments continues to grow but the media hardly ever
reports it.
It seems that there are some in this country who are more
concerned about the rights of our enemies when they should
be showing more support for our brave troops. Have they
already forgotten the events of Sept. 11, 2001? It really
hasn’t been that long ago when murderers who don’t mind
killing women and children viciously attacked our country.
They hit us on our own soil and killed several thousand of
our fellow citizens. The scene of that terrible day should
burn in our memory forever and we should never forget!
I recently saw a political cartoon that showed our vice
president throwing a piece of paper into a fire while
President Bush looked on. I don’t remember exactly what
was written on the paper, but it was something like, “ the
Geneva Convention’s rules of torture.” The whole idea
being that we are so cruel that we torture our enemies
without regard for the guidelines of the Geneva Convention.
I wonder how many of these “guidelines” are being read
by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and his pack of killers. Do these
rules of torture cover the sadistic beheading of innocent
civilians? To compare their actions to those of our soldiers
is outrageous!
When members of our military return home they should be
greeted with cheers and thanks for what they’ve done. And
when they drive down the streets they should see the Stars
and Stripes flying from every structure. They should return
home to a grateful nation and be proud to wear the uniform.
It has to be disheartening for them when they never see
their side of the story reported by the media.
It would be refreshing to see one of the large networks like
ABC, CBS, or NBC actually interview one of the many veterans
involved in the war in Iraq and Afghanistan; and ask them
why they continue to volunteer to go back. There’s no
doubt that these are probably the two most dangerous places
in the world so why do they want to return. Could it be that
they are seeing good results and believe in what they’re
doing?
I received an email a while back from a person who was
trying to get a new trend started among those patriotic
people who make up the “silent majority.” She simply
asked that folks wear red on Fridays to symbolize the blood
of our brave soldiers who give their all to protect America.
Seems like a great idea to me and I intend to wear red every
Friday from now on.
We should never forget that all over the world young men and
women serving in our military put their lives on the line to
protect us and preserve our way of life. Those of us here at
home should do all we can to support the troops and their
families.
When I drive down my street from now on, there will be at
least one flag flying for all to see – it will be on my
house because I am going to put it up right now.
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