Dear Editor -- Here's an e-mail that one of Sgt. Mack's readers wants the Post to re-publish. It's from a 95 year Old WW II Pearl Harbor Veteran and it's addressed to President Obama. This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii for
his seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and
causes all over the country. A humble man without a political bone in
his body, he has never spoken out before about a government official,
until now. He dictated this letter to a friend, signed it and mailed
it to the president.
Dear President Obama,
My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this
year. People meeting me for the first time don't believe my age
because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.
I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during
and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos'n Mate. Now I live in
a "rest home" located on the western end of Pearl Harbor , allowing me
to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.
One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my
mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.
So here goes.
I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I
do, but you seem bent not to grant me that wish.
I can't figure out what country you are the president of.
You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:
" We're no longer a Christian nation"
" America is arrogant" - (Your wife even
announced to the world," America is mean-
spirited. " Please tell her to try preaching
that nonsense to 23 generations of our
war dead buried all over the globe who
died for no other reason than to free a
whole lot of strangers from tyranny and
hopelessness.)
I'd say shame on the both of you, but I don't think you like America,
nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the
obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or
gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White
House.
After 9/11 you said," America hasn't lived up to her ideals."
Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that
11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the
British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another
man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn't
mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of
fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real
strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand
for freedom.
I don't think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than
discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people
understood when they helped to get you elected.
Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.
Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don't, I'll do
what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on
Pennsylvania Avenue . You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize
and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat
their people like slaves.
And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to
jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his
fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don't want us to
do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black
college professor in Massachusetts , who was putting up a fight? You
don't mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don't want
us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are,
terrorists.
One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never
had to defend your country with your life, but you're the
Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened
field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission,
give them to him. But if you're not in this fight to win, then get
out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political
strategy you're thinking of.
You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest
challenge ever presented to any president.
You're not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our
bloated economy. That's not our greatest threat. Losing the heart
and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.
And I sure don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final
battle...
Sincerely,
Harold B. Estes
Snopes confirms as true:
When a 95 year old hero of the "the Greatest Generation" stands up and
speaks out like this, I think we owe it to him to send his words to as
many Americans as we can. Please pass it on.
Apathy by Americans is the number one enemy of this country. Activism
- standing up strongly for what you believe in - is the duty of all
true Americans.
