Author: Jan

See, Governor, I don’t think you know who I am.

You think that if you stand up at your podium enough times and threaten me with arrest, fines, and jail time, I’ll be afraid and give up.

You think if you call me enough names, exaggerate the threat of illness, I’ll be afraid and give up.

You think if you tell my fellow citizens to report me, I’ll give up.

You think that if you put illegal and unconstitutional mandates in writing, I’ll give up.

You misjudge me.

You think you can stop me from traveling to celebrate Thanksgiving and/or Christmas with my family.

But, I promise you, I will go.

I will go because no fines, police, jail time, tattle tales, over reaching, dictatorial government can keep me from seeing my family and giving them my love and giving thanks to my Lord for his blessings.

All of that means more than any petty threats a little man can make to show his “power.”

You don’t have power over me and I do not serve you. I serve my God, family and country. And I will do anything I can to continue that service.

Even if it hurts me. Even if you try to harm me.

Psalm 112 says, “Surely the righteous will never be shaken. Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear, in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.”

It also says, ” The wicked will see and be vexed, they will gnash their teer and waste away; the longings of the wicked will come to nothing.”

Larry, you don’t know me. If you did, you would know you will never win this battle. Because I will fight you EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.

I let them get to me yesterday. I really did. Even though I prayed to God to help me hold my anger, even though I promised him I would, I let them get to me and I broke that promise.

Who? Larry Hogan and his groupies.

Why?

Some background. Almost eight years ago I and other Conservatives in Maryland had hope. We had a guy running for Governor who was a business man, a seemingly good man, and a Conservative. He promised lower state taxes, a state that didn’t over spend, help for retired police, firemen and teachers, and on and on. I voted for him and lo and behold, for the third time in my lifetime, my candidate for Governor won in Maryland! The first was Don Schaeffer, the second Bob Erlich, and then Hogan. I had such high hopes.

The things he promised didn’t happen immediately and I thought, ” Give him time.” After all, he had to work with a stubborn liberal legislature controlled by Montgomery, Prince George’s and Baltimore Counties and City.

He got one thing done, he lowered tolls on bridges.

That was about it for his first term. But, at least he seemed like a good guy.

He got cancer and we all rallied around him. I even ran the Bridge run as one of his VIP’s. I was honored.

Towards the end of his first terms, I, like many others, began to question things. Why wasn’t he getting things done? Why didn’t he seem to fight very hard against Democrats? The second election came and he ran against a very bad, very weak Democrat.

Right before that second election, I was listening to Bruce Elliott on WCBM radio and a caller, an African American woman, called and was talking to Bruce. She was a Conservative. She basically told Bruce that Hogan wasn’t what Republicans and Conservatives thought he was. Bruce told her that he was at least better than a Democrat. She disagreed. She told him that we would find out what Hogan really was in his second term.

She was right. It began to dawn on many of us, bit by bit. At first it was just the continued lack of fight against Democrats in Annapolis. Then it progressed to the outright disdain for the Republican candidate for President, Trump. Larry wasn’t just non-committal about him, he was outright against him. There was never any reason given other than he didn’t like how Trump talked.

Then, in this year, who Larry Hogan is hit us, his supporters, like a ton of bricks. It was the initial two week “shutdown” for Covid 19 to “flatten the curve.” Then it was the continuation of this shut down and the mask mandate. All the while, most of us didn’t see the pandemic he claimed there was.

Then he started openly opposing the President. He even said he might run against him. He started showing up on CNN, etc. and he wrote a book. As the summer progressed, he amazingly wrote a self serving book praising his Covid response. ( And, by the way, how does someone write a book that quickly and get it published. Seems fishy.) I spoke to some of my friends who worked for the State of Maryland and they told me why he did these things. He wanted favor from the unions for his next political run.

He became the head of the Governor’s Association and began to sound more like Cuomo and Newsome. He started instituting the same Draconian measures they did, saying the same things they said. His mandates made no sense, favoring one business category over others. Allowing big box stores to stay open while small businesses couldn’t.

Money was promised for small businesses affected by Covid, but, when small businesses applied, the money was gone. It was rumored to have been given to the businesses of his friends and relatives. He sent his Korean wife to Korea to spend 9 million dollars of Maryland taxpayer money on Covid tests, only to discover that they were faulty. Then he spent an additional million to replace them. All the while there were companies here, in Maryland, that had better tests that were cheaper.

And when we, the citizens, wrote to him and complained, he dismissed us. He threatened us if we protested, while allowing Black Lives Matter to protest maskless in the streets of Baltimore. He allowed the removal of state statues. And he continued to insult our President, saying he would write in ” Ronald Reagan” before voting for him.

I wrote emails to him ten times. They were mild at first, merely asking for common sense. No response, not even an auto-response. I addressed him on his Facebook page and had my questions deleted. I guess I was lucky because he was downright rude and threatening to others.

And now, he tells us he is taking back the freedoms he “gave” us, the freedoms he had no right to take in the first place. He tells us NOT to celebrate Thanksgiving. He tells us not to visit relatives.

He tells our President to go golf, concede the election, and basically shut up about the vast fraud that is promising to make an idiot our President.

Who was this guy? This wasn’t who I thought I supported, who I voted for. This wasn’t a Conservative. It was a dictator, a man who either fooled us all brilliantly, was threatened or bought off. It was a petty little man with a thin skin who couldn’t fight for us and the principles we though he stood for.

He was, and is, a scam artist who has performed one of the greatest bait and switch schemes ever in politics. He is a liar, spreading false data about Covid 19. He is unapologetic, blaming the counties and us for the fact that positive tests seem to increasing.

And so yesterday I broke my promise to God and to myself. I lost it on this sham and his delusional, sycophantic followers. I told them, again, what I thought of him and them in no mild terms.

But that is what happens when you are told that a man is one thing and he turns out to be another, a really evil other.

I’m sorry that I broke my promise, not because I made people feel bad or that God would be angry. I think he might actually understand since his son was known to lose his temper a time or two for good reasons.

I’m sorry because it affected me last night as I tried to go to sleep. It kept me awake.

But, you know what? I won’t stop fighting with my thoughts and words. I won’t let this fake get away with his lies. But I also won’t let his evil control me. It won’t ruin my Thanksgiving with my family.

I won’t let this liar off the hook.

It seems like forever ago when the Houston Astros cheating scandal was exposed. If you are not familiar with it, it had to do with the Astros stealing catchers’ signs electronically and then relaying them to their batters via making certain noises in the dugout so they could know what was coming and hit it. It worked well, as the Astros won the World Series that year. After the MLB investigated it and banned some scape goat managers and staff, it was considered handled. And the World Series title stayed.

It amazed me after it was exposed that there were actually people, mostly Astros fans, who would shrug their shoulders and say it was no big deal. The Astros won the World Series and that was all that mattered. They tried to say they would have won anyway, or that not all the players used the cheat, or that “everyone steals signs, so let it go.”

There were some fans who didn’t accept it. In fact, the cheating was exposed by a lifetime Astros fan who fell into the facts and went on to investigate them. I remember an interview with him on a recent podcast called ” The Edge.” He said that it hurt him deeply to expose this scandal, but that he felt he had to in the name of fairness and integrity. Needless to say, he suffered at the hands of some Astros fans who called him names and even threatened him. It was a truly brave thing to.

So, let’s talk about the election of 2020. Cheating has been exposed. Votes were changed from Trump to Biden. Trump ballots were thrown away, counted incorrectly, or just thrown away by biased and criminal election officials. The election is in doubt, regardless of what the biased media says.

Trump is suing and is taking these instances to court. As in the election of 2000, in which Gore was initially called the winner, the Supreme Court will probably decide the issue. Sadly, this decision may be influenced by money, threats, etc.

But, what gets me most is that the Democrat party, and more particularly Biden supporters, seem fine if this gets swept under the rug. They preach at us about ” unity” and moving on. They are in a huge hurry to get this over with, even though in 2000, they were willing to wait 37 days. They tell Trump supporters to “shut up about it.”

You would think that the Democrat party, the party that always tells us we are the bad ones, the dishonest ones, the fascists and that they maintain a higher moral ground than everyone else, would want this all sorted out in a fair and objective way.

But as we have seen over the past four years, they have no interest in fairness, objectivity, unity, morality, and truth. They, like the unapologetic Astros fans, are willing to turn their heads the other way because they think they got the win. They are even threatening those who are exposing this or suggesting it be investigated with censorship and even physical harm. Social media platforms want to scrub all reference to the fraud and do so by removing posts.

(By the way, as a side note, watch Zuckerberg’s responses to Sen. Hawley’s questions the other day about social media collusion. As a teacher, I could tell when a student was lying about something he did. His eyes would get really big and wide open while he talked. That’s what Zuckerberg did during this testimony. Its hysterical to watch.)

The bottom line with these Biden supporters is that their guy “won.” And if that means we never have an election that is accurate, fair, and trusted by the citizens, that’s fine with them. And it is going to happen.

I won’t be “unified” with people like that.

This is a full on rant of all the crap bothering me right now. I think they might be bothering you too. I’ll try to steer away from the most repeated topics if I can.

Stupid People – I know some people are stupid but some of the folks I run across are high on the stupidity scale, above trees and rocks. If all you can understand is what they news media tells you and you are TOO lazy to go find out for yourself, I got nothing for you.

Bad Covid based commercials- I promise that I absolutely will not purchase ANYTHING from any company that uses Covid in it’s ads. This includes showing people in masks, telling me this is a different year, bragging about doing business differently, or telling me that we will all get through this together. I could go on. We get it. You want to capitalize on Covid and show us how caring you are, but it’s not working.

And, along with that, if I see another social media ad for a pretty mask, cool mask, mask with extra features, plastic shield, etc. I am going to throw my phone in a puddle. I actually tell the social media that I don’t want to see these ads because they are irrelevant. Besides, I have been wearing the same three gaiters for nine months, I’m not buying your deluxe model, even if it has a point on it for my nose. My nose does just fine in my gaiter, thank you.

County Heath Wonks – THEY ARE IDIOTS and are drunk on their new power. These were the kids in school who no one paid attention to and NOW IS THEIR CHANCE for revenge. So, they issue their ridiculous edicts about wearing masks, distancing, etc., all things that are not needed nor effective. Listen, I know your lunch table was lonely but don’t punish us now.

People who don’t know their Constitutional Rights – No, idiots, there is NO WHERE in the Constitution that gives Governors, Presidents, etc. the right to close my business, tell me what to wear, tell me to stay home, tell me who I can hang out with, tell me I can’t go to church, etc. So, please, get a copy and try to read it. Of course, if you are one of the stupid people, that might not work so well.

Biden supporters who want UNITY- I’ve written about this before, but you hated me for four years and told me so, so don’t act all sweet and inclusive now. I assure you, I won’t be cooperative. And, by the way, your guy hasn’t exactly won yet. Oh, and don’t tell me that I called you a “snowflake” and that was hurtful. I think the vile names you called me give me the edge on judging the severity of your hate meter.

Saying you are ” woke.” – No, that’s not how you use that word. So stop it. Now. The word as you use it doesn’t exist.

Governors who give out edicts based on false or manipulated data and then yell because people question them. Face it, assholes, you work for us. So stop lying and understand that we will not comply.

Mask wearing dorks who look at you like you have three heads when you are not wearing a mask.

Rules that are so stupid they defy any logic or common sense. Do you really think that a virus is more contagious after 10 p.m.? That taking your mask on and off while eating makes things better? That department stores are safer than restaurants and gyms?

People who ignore the facts that show the rampant election fraud because THEIR SIDE WON. Or so they think. Worse is that they expect those of us who want this investigated to “let it go.” Nope.

People who call those of us who are skeptics ” conspiracy theorists.” I’m not one who believes in conspiracy theories, I believe in conspiracy facts.

Dr. Fauci…enough said.

Imagine for a second that you are sitting with a friend at lunch and your friend starts saying this, ” I have to tell you something. I’m not proud of it, but I need to tell someone. Someone important in my life is doing some things they haven’t done before. “

You are shocked and a little worried. Who is this? What are they doing.

Your friend goes on to tell you that this other person is doing the following to your friend.

1. Telling your friend where she can go, when she can go there, and what she can and cannot do when she goes there.
2. Telling your friend how many people she can associate with in public and in her own home.
3. Telling your friend that she must stand away from these people and NEVER touch them.
4. Telling your friend she cannot go to church, can’t sing in church, etc.
5. Telling your friend she cannot go to a doctor unless it is an emergency.
6. Telling your friend she cannot visit elderly relatives or relatives in a nursing home or hospital.
7. Telling your friend that she must keep her children at home and have them educated online. She must skip work to do this.
8. Telling your friend she cannot travel without certain “tests” that will allow the important person in her life to determine if she can go or not.
9. Alerting your friend that people are watching her and will report to the important person in her life if she disobeys.
10. Threatening your friend that if she doesn’t obey these “rules” that she will have dire consequences such as having money taken away and being put in isolation.

You can’t believe it. This is abuse. What kind of person would do this?

Get ready for it, friends. The government. The government is the abusive spouse. OUR abusive spouse. When government officials go outside your constitutional rights and control all aspects of your life, they are like an abusive spouse.

None of us would put up with this for ourselves or for our friends.

But, in this situation, people who know your friend would tell her to suck it up and deal with the abusive spouse because he was keeping her and everyone else “safe.” In fact, they would YELL at her that if she violates these rules, she is uncaring and a murderer.

The government has become our abusive spouse, controlling everything we do, all in the name of a virus that 99.8% of the victims survive. Why?

The key word is control. Think about it, that is what abusive spouses want, control. Without control, their wives and girlfriends might have the freedom to do what they want to do. The abusive spouse would have to trust their wife or girlfriend to do for themselves. And they don’t want that.

So, every time you see your Governor up there getting angry because the people haven’t done what they wanted, every time your loyal Health Department Dictator chastises people for not believing the made up data, think about that abusive spouse.

Because that is what the government has become.

I lost a family member yesterday. He wasn’t a family member by blood relation, but one based on years of friendship and his mentorship and coaching.

It was really kind of a fluke that we even met Mr. Bill, Bill Dryden. My daughter Cassie was a young softball player and she ( or maybe I) decided she should try pitching.

We researched instructors in the area and came across Bill. This was before he had the website, etc. I can’t even remember how we found him. I took Cassie for a lesson with him on the softball field at Delmar, hoping she would like it and would feel comfortable with him as an instructor.

It didn’t take long for both Cassie and I to realize what a cool person Bill was. While he gave her some basics to work on, he interspersed instruction with light humor. Cassie was pretty shy, but by the end of the lesson she was smiling and enjoying herself.

And, that was the beginning of a great relationship. Bill became a member our family. Lessons were a highlight. Whether Bill was cracking jokes, laughing at my husband when he cursed at having to catch Cassie’s drop ball, encouraging her when she did well, and being kindly honest when she didn’t, our Mr. Bill time was special.

As Cassie grew up, she had the good luck to be able to play on a team that Bill coached. He was such a good coach. If she had a horrible day or a great day, he was consistent and even keeled. It wasn’t like he didn’t tell her the truth, he did, but she knew that he would work with her to keep her improving.

And we had fun. The team was young and talented. We went to Oklahoma City, to Colorado, and to Florida to name a few places. One of our favorite memories was going to Estes Park with Bill and Cheryl, or to the Buckhorn Exchange in Denver for dinner with them and other team members. Wherever we went for softball, we also went to see the sites. Like I said, family.

At some point, Cassie, who wanted to play collegiate softball, realized that maybe pitching wasn’t her thing. Most college pitchers are not 5’4″ and 100 pounds. She was around 16 and it was hard for ME to deal with, but not Bill. He said to me as I continued to bring her to lessons, ” You realize her heart isn’t in it, right? Let her go be the best outfielder, lefty slap hitter she can be and play college ball. ” He didn’t mind being honest with parents either. Often times when I would bring her to lessons sick, or slightly injured, or really tired, he would kindly remind me that everyone needs a break every once in a while.

Even when she was no longer a pitching student, Bill helped her as she went through the recruiting process. He recommended her to another travel team when he retired from the one she was on. It was the team that got her recruited by Bucknell University, the college she eventually played at. Bill was critical in helping her get recruited, giving advice, talking to coaches, etc. Cassie had him at her signing ceremony. He was always there for her and us and she said she owed so much of her success to him.

Once she went to college, Bill helped me and my husband when we started coaching.

He was just that kind of guy. He cared about all of his students and even former students. You would see Bill at every level of competition to watch ” his girls,” all the way from Little League to high school. That’s how he spent his weekends in the spring and summer. He loved it and those girls!

He and his wife Cheryl would hop in that SUV he had and would drive all over. Cheryl would sit in her lawn chair covered in a blanket in cold weather or in her shorts and flip flops in the summer and talk to parents and coaches alike. She rooted for every girl Bill coached.

Bill would walk from field to field talking to college coaches, travel coaches, and, of course, to his girls. He gave those girls advice and encouragement. A girl would have the worst game of her career, and he would help her learn from it and move on from it.

If you had ever been one of his pitchers or players, you were always special to him.

I was so happy to see Bill keep coaching because his influence on so many young women was crucial to them. I was also loving the fact that his granddaughters were playing and he was getting to coach and watch them. It mean the world to him. His daughter, Ashley, who we met when she was a dominating high school pitcher, got into coaching and Bill was so proud.

He was also excited to help teams and organizations, as well as parents, with the collegiate recruiting process. Many teams benefited from his advice.

I’ll miss so much about Bill. Long talks about pitchers on my team that he worked with, dinners at Old Country Buffet after practice, bad jokes and his self deprecating humor, his cute nicknames for his students, and his advice to me, personally, as a mom and a coach. He was always there for a phone call or a message asking for help with so many softball and life issues. I always knew he was in my corner, and in the fickle softball world, that is rare.

I’ll miss you Bill in so many ways. But I look forward to following your granddaughters and Ashley as they continue your legacy!

Love you.

#drydenstrong ( that means even more now.)

Remember when Health Department Officials were there to help people? When they cared about the needs of all and the opinions of all?

No more.

I have attached a letter from our Talbot County Health Department Head, Dr. Fredia ( I call her Fraudia) Wadley.

You will see in the letter that Dr. Wadley is fitting well into the Dr. Fauci “Do as I say or else” mode with her petulant and dismissive tone in the letter.

I posted about this on Facebook, and will share that. I will attach her letter as well.

“I am so tired of this crap. Apparently, Ms Wadley totally disregards the fact that many people do not see the need to wear a mask, which is useless, for a disease that has caused 9 deaths, 9, in our county since March. That is in NINE months. I’m not dismissing those deaths, they are sad. But how many people died of heart attacks, cancer, or other ailments during that time because they couldn’t see their doctors? How many business owners became clinically depressed during that time as they watched a lifetime of work go down the drain. How many people lost their jobs? How many children now suffer from anxiety because of the alarmist attitude of the health officials. How many elderly died alone and depressed in nursing homes because no one could come see them? But I guess we should dismiss all that as well as our concerns for the harm masks can do, physically and mentally.

Meanwhile, Ms Wadley keeps her job, gets her check, and lives her life. Shame on her for being so flip about my rights and the rights of others. It’s these rights that keep many people alive, Fredia. But, how dare we question her superiority and authority.

Also, she seems so sure that all of us can work out in a mask. Maybe she is unaware that this can be dangerous and I have studies that show it is. I’m not going to keel over because Freida is having a temper tantrum and wants us to get in line.

Guess what Fredia, I’m going to have the holidays with my family no matter how many of them are there. and I’m not quarantining when I get home. And I am not working out in a mask or wearing a mask at all. I’m not living my life in fear of a virus that has a 99.8 % survival rate. And I’m not living my life in fear of a public official who suddenly feels large and in charge.

So stop the bullshit.

Oh, and when are you going to tell us how many of those positive tests were in error? I can tell you about many friends who tested positive and found out later that was a mistake. How many of those deaths were because of underlying health issues? Stop lying Fraudia.

With all the Governors of certain states placing restrictions on whether people can celebrate the holidays this year, many think they are doing this because Covid is rampant and it’s dangerous for us to get together.

Some are going to major extremes to make sure people comply. If you fly to New York State, Cuomo won’t let you get off the plane without a negative test result. Hogan, in Maryland, has once again warned everyone of prosecution resulting in fines and imprisonment. Virginia and California are doing similar things. The Mayor of Chicago, who looks like she should be pushing a shopping cart filled with trash through the streets and yelling at random people, has told everyone to stay home.

The man who thinks he is the boss of all of us, Anthony Fauci, told Americans we should do as we are told and stay home. Little man complex is a thing. I’ll bet he didn’t have friends when he was growing up.

They say they want to protect us. But that’s just bull. They, and other members of the Covid Cult ( a term Tom Woods uses) are using juiced numbers and people’s fears to promote their agenda.

It’s an agenda that has been around for a while. The biggest goal of the agenda is to cancel culture in our country and to take away all those things that we love, that make us human. The less contact with family and friends, the better, because then the government becomes your friend and family. We’ve seen it in place for a while. Think about it. It was just a few years ago that we were told not to say, “Merry Christmas” because it was too religious. Stores were told not to sell religious representations of the holidays, to omit any music mentioning religion, and to focus on the the goals of consumerism instead.

In schools, Christmas parties were replaced with ” Winter parties.” Religious symbols such as Nativity scenes were banned from public grounds. In some cases, private citizens were told to remove these scenes. Even attempts to add celebrations of the holidays of other religions were banned, well, except Islam. That was just fine. And so was Kwanza, because black holidays matter.

Thanksgiving wasn’t far behind. People were called “racist” for celebrating Thanksgiving because it involved white pilgrims eating with Native Americans and we all know they just did that to give the Indians diseases in order to kill them off. Not kidding.

So, the cultural component, which must be eradicated so that totalitarianism is fostered, is key here.

But, there are other reasons.

They want to frighten us all again and tell us that because we were not good little comrade sheep following their orders that the virus is surging. If we are shamed and scared enough, they count on use to bow to their commandments. We must be tested, contact traced and inoculated, or else. More power is their goal!

They want to keep the economy, which was coming back, suppressed. You would think that since they think Biden won, they would want it to rebound. But see, it can’t just yet. If it does, Slow Joe and hot dog fan Harris can’t take credit for it. So, it can’t rebound until they can legitimately ( in their minds)tell us they did that. They will point out how bad the Christmas season was for retail while Trump was still around.

They also might be showing some fear that maybe when this whole fraud mess is investigated, Old Slow Joe doesn’t win. If they were sure he won, they might be able to let things go and claim that just the idea that Joe might have won made things better. So, they hedge their bets on the backs of the American people and small businesses.

It also might be that they are laying the ground work for this whole “guaranteed wage” bullshit. That’s when every American can just stay home and get a monthly wage for doing nothing. You know, every month you get your government check just because. And, if you are a good little American, you can keep getting it. If not, or if you are one of those evil Trump supporters on AOC’s list, you won’t. And don’t even ask for your Medicare and Social Security checks.

And just wait until the food shortages start. Rationing, showing your Covid negative test, and getting in line will get you whatever food or toilet paper is left.

And who is making money on this? The states, by locking back down, get federal funds to fill the coffers they emptied with their fraud and theft. Companies like Amazon, Wayfair, and social media, make out like bandits as people turn to them because they don’t go out in public to shop. Tech companies are raking it in as they are selling their services to schools and businesses whose students and workers must stay home.

And, the Karens and Kens. Don’t forget them. They will be in heaven when they get their “Covid Cult Police” badges.

And all of us, the ones who loved the holidays, who miss our relatives, who need something positive right now, will be left with empty days watching terrible T.V. and eating shitty food. I think they hope we will either die or give up.

Not happening here.

I will not comply. You can send Karen and Ken after me ( I’m pretty sure I can kicks their asses). You can fine me. I guess you can arrest me, but I think you have enough to do with real criminals, even though you have let them out of jail.

And, it seems like there are police departments who won’t comply and arrest us either.

Which leads me to my last point. One thing these leftists may not realize is that they are pushing most of us to our limit. And when that happens, they might want to head for their safe spaces. Immediately.

They forget that we have something they don’t count on. Resiliency. Fight. Determination. Independent thinking. We always have and always will. At least many of us do. Those that don’t? Well, I’ll take them on any day.

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas everyone! We don’t need their approval to celebrate.

It’s 9 p.m. on November 11th, Veterans Day, 2020. I am working my way through “Band of Brothers” again. I think it’s the third or fourth time I have watched it since I first saw it many years ago.

Every time I watch it, I get a sadness that mixes in with the awe of these heroic men who helped save the world. Their sacrifice is so hard to comprehend.

Every year, we take two days to honor them. One to honor those who died, and one to honor those who served.

Unfortunately, I don’t think we are capable of honestly and completely honoring them.

Why is that? First, I think it is hard to honor someone for something you cannot comprehend. Even though many of us have relatives who served in World War II and other American wars, we have been isolated and insulated from what they really had to go through to protect freedom. We haven’t had to make one sacrifice in our daily lives that even comes close to what they gave up. And the further the generations get from direct contact with those that served, the least able they are to understand.

Many of these men and women volunteered to serve. Some were drafted. In either case, they left their homes, their jobs, and their families to serve in the harsh conditions of war. They faced death, of themselves, of their friends. They saw horrors some of us cannot fathom. And it wasn’t in movie effects or a video game. It was real. And, through all this, they did what they had to do without expecting thanks or reward.

Meanwhile, what do we have here in our society? Outside police, first responders, and those who give up their safety for the well being of others, most of our society is made up of selfish, entitled, people who think that sacrifice is when your internet is down or your boss at work asks you to do something you don’t want to do. Their bravery is defined by an anonymous Facebook or Twitter post threatening death to an elected official they don’t like with the only possible consequence is being banned or having to delete the post.

They are never really tested like our fathers and grandfathers were. They never have to look to others to save their lives and never have to save other’s lives. They live in a cocoon of extra lives, of insulated walls, of safe spaces. No one challenges them physically or mentally, to be more than they think they are, to break free from the cocoon.

And so, for them, heroes are movie characters, athletes, or recording artists. Not because these icons deserve their adoration, but because they are told over and over how these should be their heroes.

Add to this their woeful and inaccurate knowledge of history and their indoctrination by the people who want to destroy this country, and you have generations that cannot possible honor these men and women as they should be honored.

We have failed these heroes, even though they would tell you, if they could, that they don’t want the accolades.

For me, however, it isn’t really for these heroes that we need to honor them. It’s for the generations now and for those to come. If they don’t understand the sacrifice, they will never be able to defend and live in a free country. And they will be taken advantage of.