Mike Gemmell is the founder and president of Restore Our American Republic (ROAR). Prior to founding ROAR, he was a geologist specializing in groundwater resource development, a technical writer, and a freelance writer addressing environmental and other cultural issues. For more information on his professional background please see: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelmgemmell.
Honoring America’s Men and Women in Uniform
As of November 8, 2016, Donald Trump became the president-elect of the United States. Although I will have some post-election comments next week, I believe the more pressing matter is to honor the Armed Services men and women of this country. Our current administration has treated them very badly, a fact President-elect Trump has recognized and promised to rectify. Let us hope he will honor that promise. I wrote the following essay some time ago with America’s service men and women in mind and would like to offer it again to those who have served, and currently serve, in the Armed Forces of the United States in defense of its people, and the principles for which it stands. – Mike Gemmell
Fellow Americans and Freedom-Lovers beyond our shores:
Many of us are angry and frustrated by various harmful and often unlawful activities of the Obama administration as well as those of regulatory agencies under his watch, but none has done more to upset me than the mistreatment of our men and women in uniform, both active and retired. From the mismanagement of the VA Administration, to the purging of top military leaders who refuse to knuckle under to Obama’s political correctness, and worse, to the actual lives being lost by a president with no grasp of strategic defense or foreign policy. I believe that when one feels this level of outrage there are two basic alternatives available for action that fall within ethical, legal norms of our society: (1) Express anger to friends, family, and the like, knowing it will probably go no further, or (2) Channel our anger into some sort of principled action to grow the numbers of like-minded individuals in order to pressure the president and his administration into correcting the injustices being perpetrated.
But who has the time for political activism when trying to earn a living, raise a family, etc.? Fortunately, the single most important action that grassroots citizens can take who wish to do something about corrupt political and cultural misdeeds is to become an information conduit regarding important truths the powers that be are trying to suppress or misrepresent. An information conduit in this context means passing on important information to one’s personal and professional network and naming wrongful actions or inactions for what they are. This passing of information is crucial because no people can remain free without accurate facts concerning what is happening in the world around them, particularly when the institution that has traditionally served such a role, i.e., the mainstream media, has failed to do so. Thankfully, this critically important activity takes very little time. It can be as simple as forwarding emails and electronic links to websites where useful information concerning our political and cultural happenings are located.
With that as preamble, I would like to direct your attention to the attached photograph of a sculpture piece of artwork commissioned by the American military in Iraq to commemorate our country’s soldiers and their fallen warrior compatriots who gave their lives to liberate the Iraq population from the dictates of Saddam Hussein. The statue was created by an Iraqi sculptor named Kalat, who for years was forced to make the many hundreds of busts of Hussein that dotted Baghdad. Kalat melted three of the sculptured heads of the executed dictator in order to obtain the bronze to make this emotionally stirring memorial, a memorial that to my way of thinking represents the very best within the hearts and minds of our service men and women: a brave, unconquered spirit, a deep sense of honor, and a compassionate outlook that can only come from those who have endured great loss.
Although I feel great pride when contemplating Mr. Kalat’s wonderful work, I also feel great anger toward the Obama administration knowing how these warriors have been badly mistreated by our own government. The American people cannot let this injustice stand unchallenged. So with that I will conclude this message with an urgent request that you pass it along with the attached artwork to your personal and professional networks and ask that they do the same. It would also be meaningful to make a special effort to relay this to members of the military and their families, so they know that although the current administration in Washington has failed these unconquered heroes, the American people never will. One way or another we must find a way to remind our government of its obligation to protect those who have given so much, for so long, to protect us.