- This past Memorial Day weighed heavily on my mind in
more ways than one. Therefore, I look back over the years to appreciate
where I came from and where I am going. At the same time, I am looking
back at my country and where it came from and where it is headed.
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- As a baby boomer out of the 1940s, I am on the leading
edge of the largest population boom this country ever encountered. I am
also part of the largest group of people facing medical challenges and
death in the next 10 to 15 years.
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- More than anything, I am the son of a U.S. Marine. My
dad, M/Sgt. Howard Wooldridge, served in WWII in the South Pacific and
in Korea. He died in service to the United States of America. As a quick
aside, my brother John Wooldridge also served in the United States Air
Force during Desert Storm and also in the U.S. Army. He died at 50 last
February and was buried with honors and a 21 gun salute.
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- As a kid, I wore a red with yellow letter T-shirt that
read, "My daddy is a Marine!"
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- My dad forged me. He molded me. He taught me athletics.
He gave me a never- ever-give-up attitude in sports and life. He encouraged
me to work my brain first in school and then, pursue sports. He stamped
me with the indelible responsibility to honor my country, respect my mother,
adhere to God and contribute to America as an upstanding citizen.
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- In February, I paid my last respects to my brother John,
but also, walked several feet over to my father's grave. In the 47 years
since my dad's death, the pain has not diminished. It has subsided, but
it still lingers in my heart. I knelt down at my dad's grave stone and
thanked him for every moment he spent with me on the sports field. I thanked
him for every camping trip. I appreciated his helping me with my homework.
I deeply thanked him for making me an honest man where integrity comes
first and personal discipline created and defined my life. As I knelt
by his grave, I thanked him for treating my mother with kindness, respect
and tenderness. She's nearly 90 now and suffered loneliness and now, she
has lost her youngest son, too.
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- On this past Memorial Day weekend, I hope a lot of Americans
thanked their fathers and mothers for the trials and tribulations born
of past wars, hard times and difficult challenges. I know for me, when
I see the American flag, it represents one of the most amazing countries
on this planet where the "little guy" can grow big, dream big
and become anything he or she dreams of becoming.
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- While I am not thrilled with our past four presidents,
their antics, their sexual peccadilloes, their lack of character, lack
of integrity and other short comings-I am proud of my dad. While I loathe
the past four U.S. Congresses for their chicanery, lack of vision and outright
fraud against the American people-I am proud of my dad. While I am dismayed
that our current president appears to have scammed his way into the White
House with a false birth certificate, false selective service card and
false social security card along with false academic credentials-I am proud
of my dad. The current president of the United States wouldn't know a
platoon formation from K.P. duty-yet, I am proud of my dad.
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- As I look out across the American landscape, I see we
have stumbled on what it means to be Americans. When I look across this
great country, I see 7 out of 10 Americans walking around with an extra
20, 30 to 100 pounds. I see 50 percent not voting in national elections
and 90 percent not voting in local elections. I see a $14 trillion national
debt brought to us by our U.S. Congress-a body full of cronies and disingenuous
liars. I see more people living on welfare every year rather than working.
I see a loss of personal accountability and personal responsibility when
68 percent of African-American children are born to single mothers-on welfare.
You can add 34 percent of Hispanics and 24 percent of Whites.
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- I see that 42 million Americans cannot read, write or
perform simple mathematical calculations-but 43 million Americans know
how to utilize food stamps. (Source: Reuters News Service, and American
Reading Foundation) At the same time, 7,000 kids drop out of high school
every day in America. I see a lot of tattoos, (stupid stamps), but not
a lot of critical thinking. I can't help but wonder where those kids think
they are going. Answer: nowhere! In my world travels, I have found that
"illiteracy" defines the misery of the third world and those
American kids will define America in the next few decades. I see an enormous
"entrenched poverty class" developing in America-that relies
solely on handouts from those of us that take our citizenship seriously.
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- I see most of everything sold in K-Mart, Target, Kohl's,
Home Depot, Lowes, Sears and countless other American stores all made in
China, Pakistan or Mexico-while we suffer 14 million out of work Americans.
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- So what did my father fight for and what did he preserve
as a U.S. Marine? How do all the veterans of our armed forces think about
what has happened to America? What will become of our country now that
we feature hyphenated-Americans, terrorists within our own citizens and
growing loss of direction for our country?
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- Answer: I do not know. I don't see how we will dig our
way out of our debt, our energy crisis, our overpopulation crisis, our
destruction of our biosphere, our resource depletion predicament and the
degradation of our environment.
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- All I know is that my daddy was a U.S. Marine and I am
going to make him proud until my last breath on this planet. I am going
to continue engaging, speaking out, working and voting toward a better
United States of America. My father would expect no less from his sons.
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