America, My Home

"America the beautiful." That's how the Indians thought of America. They defended America because they loved it. It was their home. The Indians lived a free life-style. They roamed the mountains and meadows with no restrictions.

Then came the settlers. They had other reasons to love America. It was a place where they could live and hope to build a country away from rulers who wanted to tax and control them. The settlers were searching for the right to be free and to control their own lives. They were so proud of America that they fought for freedom from England at the cost of many lives. When the end of the war came, the settlers had won the right to be free and to establish a government "by the people" and "for the people."

They then wrote a Constitution and adopted it as our guideline for a Republic to stand for years. This Constitution gave each citizen the right to be free and have the protection of the government as long as he did not break the laws. Each citizen was considered innocent until proven guilty. The Constitution, as it was adopted, gave birth to the first Free Country on earth, ruled and run by the people.

Over 200 years later, as the world has progressed and become very complex, our Constitution has stood to show the world what America is and what we stand for. men and women have stood up to overwhelming odds to protect our country. We stood tall because we are proud to be American.

Our pride and the Constitution are under siege from all segments of our society. Special interest groups, who want to take freedom from some in order to benefit themselves, have damaged us. Our Justice System has grown so large it is hard for the innocent person to get a fair trial. It is, however, easy for the rich to buy their way out of trouble, thereby making a lie the truth and the truth against them a lie.

I am an old soldier who has withstood the hardships of the Great Depressions and World War II, during which I spend 3 1/2 years as a P.O.W. I worked my way through sickness and health problems caused by slave labor camps, wounds and beatings. I am still proud to be an American. I have not given up on our country as some have, who have moved to other lands. I have made up my mind to try, within our system, to make it a better America. America has served me well. it is my home. From all I have learned from my travels, I know there is no other land as great. I thank God for the opportunity to live in this great land. I will oppose anyone that tries to make America anything but the land of the brave and the land of the free!