Between 2016 and 2020, I felt something I hadn't felt since the Reagan years, a sense of patriotism.
I grew up in the 60's so, by the time I was 19 years old and got to vote in my first presidential election, I was as cynical toward our government as any of my peers, having grown up watching young men come home by the tens of thousands in metal boxes in (another) meaningless Democrat’s war that had nothing to do with us. From my birth (1959) to my 19th birthday, this country had elected one conservative/Republican president, and he fell into disrepute because he got caught doing what every politician has done since the first free election. He tried to get an advantage over his opponent. Of the 14 presidents we’ve had since F.D.R., only 6 elected have been Conservative/Republicans. (We’ve had 7 different presidents when you include President Ford, who finished out President Nixon’s second term, but was not elected on his own.) And in recent years we’ve learned that the Bush’s were anything but true America-loving Republican-Conservatives.
Reflecting on this Memorial Day 2022, I am again not at all patriotic towards my country as it is right now under Biden. I will forever be grateful to the men and women, since the American Revolution till today, who have lost limb and/or life so I can continue to talk shit about my government when I don’t see it serving the interest of the We the People, who are the one’s who are supposed to be in charge.
I, and all Americans, have more to be thankful than anyone; we are the last free country left on this Earth thanks to the sacrifice of men, women and children that believed in this country. It does not mean that I will turn a blind eye to the tyrants working to take this country away from us. If I do that, I am dishonoring the sacrifices of all the people before me that died, or were left with their lives shattered, so I could be here today.
So to honor these brave souls and every person who has given up an independent life to serve the greater-good in the military, which include my Uncle Bill Blackwell, USMC 1st Marine Div. Nov. 1950, Chosen, Korea (survived, now deceased), my father-in-law James Prentis M., WWII, USCG South Pacific 1943 (survived, now deceased), his brothers Roger, Lee and Sam, US Army, all three (survived, now deceased), countless uncles, cousins and friends, and though they didn’t serve in any war, my mother (alive), her sister (my aunt) and my father (both deceased) all served in the military, I want to share this poem I wrote:
For all the sacrifices you've made
And all the blood you have given.
For all the pain you have endured,
And all the fear you had to live in.
In return, we offer this salve,
Our undying love and appreciation.
You, our veterans, forever have
The Eternal Thanks of a Grateful Nation.
JS Davis 2015