A letter from a WW2 Vet to Obama
"Dear President Obama, My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time donāt 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 Bosān Mate. Now I live in a ārest homeā 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 hell bent not to grant me that wish. I canāt figure out what country you are the president of. You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like: ā Weāre no longer a Christian nationā ā America is arrogantā ā (Your wife even announced to the world,ā America is mean-spirited. ā 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.) Iād say shame on the both of you, but I donāt 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,ā America hasnāt lived up to her ideals.ā 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 didnāt 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 donāt 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 donāt, Iāll 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 donāt 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 donāt mind offending the police calling them stupid but you donāt 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 youāre 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 youāre not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy youāre thinking of. You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president. Youāre not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. Thatās not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now. And I sure as hell donāt want to think my president is the enemy in this final battleā¦ Sincerely, Harold B. Estes"
