This is tonight’s 4th of July speech I’ll be giving at the West Palm Beach, Sound Advice Amphitheatre. I’m told I will be speaking to thousands… we shall see…
-J
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Ladies and
gentlemen… Honored guests… My fellow Americans… As you enjoy today’s
festivities and celebrate our nation’s 230th birthday, I want to remind you of
the men and women who have given their lives to make the dream of a
self-governing-nation a reality… and enlist you support for our deployed
troops.
The struggle
we’re in now… is different from the engagements of our history. But the faces
of those who fight to protect this country are the same.
They are our family
and friends… they are Americans.
I spent two
tours in
and while I had been away from family and friends before… I had never been in a place where I felt so
unloved. But that’s grim reality of war. The other guy fighting for his country
wants to take my life…
…day after day;
my existence was rattled by the unrelenting shelling of mortars, AK-47 fire,
and the never-ending threat of roadside improvised explosive devices.
Yes… we did the
occasional humanitarian mission… The children would always run out and great
our convoy in smiles as we rolled into their village, but at night it was always
the same routine… the sporadic earth shaking explosions.
Where’s the
love?
Letters from
home were the one thing that would brighten my days. It was enough to let me
know that despite what was going on, my family and friends still supported and cared
for me.
What really
touched me THOUGH… was when I received a package from Forgotten Soldiers Outreach. It was the thought that someone who
knew nothing about me… cared enough to donate their time, energy, and money to
make my life, out there, a little more livable.
Regardless of
your political affiliation or personal philosophies, the men and women deployed
overseas need you. It doesn’t have to be a monetary contribution; it could be as
little as a note that says, ‘you are not
forgotten’.
I have been
asked… As a veteran, what does Independence Day mean to you?
Life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness… for every American.
But with
freedoms there is the responsibility to protect OUR young, old, and less fortunate. There is also the necessary
need to tolerate all peoples with different beliefs. TOLERANCE and COMPASSION.
Not for some, but for all.
But, should
there be restraints? Should there be limits?
As the greatest
power… with the greatest peoples on this Earth, we should be able to censor
ourselves… we should feel it within our being, the desire to protect each and
every American from unsuitable situations or material.
Unfortunately… there
are some selfish persons and organizations who pray upon stealing the life and
liberty from our fellow citizens, keeping them from achieving happiness.
For instance, I’m not saying
living an alternative life style is wrong, but there are some people who do not
feel comfortable witnessing individuals engaged in certain acts.
So what can be
done?
Seek to become
educated. Thirst for knowledge. Desire to be informed. Without a free thinking
mind, we are doomed to destroy ourselves by ignorance.
We are all
entitled to live happy and free, so let us be mindful and respect each other.
Instead of warring with ourselves, let us team together to eradicate those
evils which steal away the innocence of our young or refute those treasures
guaranteed to us by this great nation.
Many cultures
make up our population and we are all different. That is what makes this
country so special! All the different things we all have to offer… The tastes,
the sounds…
AND Yes! These
are the very things that keep us apart… the color of our skin… our beliefs… our
histories. We are creatures of habit. We tend to flock to what we know…
But there is
something stronger than these menial
differences that should transcend everything and all else… The American blood
that flows through each and one of our veins… and the common desire to live
free.
Happy
Independence Day. God bless you all. Support your troops.
