I will make this short, as I have never been to war. In fact, the closest that I have come is having “won” the lottery for induction into the US military at the height of the Vietnam War.
I showed up for my induction, presented a letter, and while standing all but naked in front of a medical officer was excused from service. Had I not been told while enrolled in the AFROTC program at Purdue University that I could never become a jet pilot, the letter would probably never have been presented, and my life would have turned out very differently. In any case, I am thankful to my mom for her help in securing the letter and to my father for the secondary smoke that led to the condition that formed the substance of the letter. Fortunately, I was able to outgrow my asthma with the passage of time and even tried smoking for a while. No, the weak muscle in my eye that prevented me from becoming an air force pilot has never gone away, but it did make me a social outlier in my youth and helped to nurture the free and somewhat rebellious spirit that I have always been.
So, in honor of those who have fallen in the defense of my nation I wish only this: that no one ever falls for something the he or she does not believe is worth falling for, and that no one is ever fooled into falling for something in which he or she believes, but is not true.
In the end, America is a philosophy of governance with a history. You either believe in the philosophy, and you are American. Or, you reject the philosophy, and you are something else. If you do not understand the philosophy, then it is time that you come to know it, or find another home. This is the lesson that I have learned having been born and raised in the United States of America as a first generation American on my father’s side and a second generation American on my mother’s side, and having lived, worked, and studied in eight countries on three continents over a span of thirty years in search of a new home.
I am once again proud to be American, and I wish my very best to those who are in anguish over those who have fallen in our name.
In liberty,
Roddy A. Stegemann, First Hill, Seattle 98104
Author of Mount Cambitas - The Story of Real Money, “A Call for the Restoration of Monetary Order” (Parts I and II), the Substack series “Let’s End the Money Racket”.