that's all I ask...

I will not apologize for being an American. I will not tread lightly in speech simply because I am a Veteran.  I will not forgive the trespasses of my enemies when their forked tongues trickle lies and deceit into the ears of my countrymen.  I will not stand idly by while the rights and privileges my forefathers bled for are trampled by the unwillingness of cowards and liars to speak up for their supposed beliefs.  I offered my life in defense of something that is forgotten and unimportant to 99% of America – and I did so without remorse, forethought or the intention to look back on my decisions.  I look at what my country has come to be and to what level of ignorance people are willing to cling to just so they feel safe and justified in making what is so obviously a bad decision.  My trust in the sheep this country is predominately made of has been incredibly destroyed.  It has been said that dissent is the highest form of patriotism – not that patriotism is found in the act of being a lemming in society but that we are, as Americans, individuals in the way that we think and act and decide.  I do not look down on any one person who decides to choose their future based on their own determination of what is best for them.  I cannot look at any free-willed American with malice or discontent because he or she has made a decision because of their own convictions and beliefs.  I offered my life in defense of these people and their inherent right to believe whatever they want to – and I truly hope that they all exercise their rights to follow what they wish.  I just ask that any and everyone who makes a decision does so on their own will – not to follow the path of least resistance.  My brothers – all Veterans of America’s military – did not offer their lives in defense of a nation willing to roll over and take whatever hand it was dealt.  The men who I served with know what it means to have everything dear to them threatened and risked.  Their families know, more than anyone, the sacrifices necessary to keep our shores free of hostility and the wolves at bay.  We were not born of a nation of idiots and followers – we are part of something much bigger and much greater than anything before our time.  We have a choice before us, what we do with it will forever decide the path of history.  Do no tread lightly on the decision ahead of you – the fate of your nation rests at your feet today, and no longer weighs heavily on the shoulders of a more convicted Patriot.