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 hell 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 evenannounced to the world,"America is mean-spirited. " Please tell her to try preachingthat nonsense to 23 generations of ourwar dead buried all over the globe whodied for no other reason than to free awhole lot of strangers from tyranny andhopelessness.)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 as hell don't want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle.Sincerely,Harold B. Estes
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.
Hi Chris! Yes, that is a puggle and his name is Johnny. He's about 2 years old.
ReplyDeleteNothing like blunt speech from one who knows. It chaps my backside to have Obama opining on preserving American priciples while he systematically works to destroy every single one of them. Thanks for sharing this letter.
ReplyDeleteYou tell 'em, Gramps!
ReplyDeleteI have a 6yr old puggle named Sarah. She is the best dog but man is she lazy and fat. But when you have a 5 yr old and 9 yr old boys the dog eats well. It is amazing how much alike they look. Sarah has white where it used to be black on her face.
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON (AP) — Failure in Afghanistan would mean a Taliban takeover of the country and "have severe consequences for the United States and the world," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Wednesday as the Obama administration set out to sell its new war strategy on Capitol Hill.
ReplyDeleteLawmakers questioned the exit strategy, a day after Obama announced he was sending an additional 30,000 American troops to the Afghan war and would commence troop withdrawals by the summer of 2011.
"Failure in Afghanistan would mean a Taliban takeover of much, if not most, of the country and likely a renewed civil war," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee. "Taliban-ruled areas could in short order become, once again, a sanctuary for al-Qaida as well as a staging area for resurgent militant groups on the offensive in Pakistan."
The insurgency already has gained "dominant influence" in 11 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, said Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, who appeared with Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before the committee.
Committee chairman Sen. Carl Levin expressed serious misgivings about the troop escalation when the Afghan security force remains small and weak.
"It seems to me that the large influx of U.S. combat troops will put more U.S. Marines on street corners in Afghan villages, with too few Afghan partners alongside them," he said in his opening remarks of the hearing.
The build up also will put more strain on troops by giving them less time than hoped for at home. Mullen said supplying the extra forces for Afghanistan while there are still so many in Iraq will mean putting off for a couple of years the goal of lengthening the time they rest and retrain at home in between tours of duty — a period the military calls "dwell time." The Army had been moving toward giving two years of dwell time between each one-year tour.
Despite the war's waning popularity among voters, there were few protesters on hand as Gates, Mullen and Clinton testified.
Vice President Joe Biden said earlier Wednesday the new surge-and-exit troop strategy is aimed more at wringing reforms from President Hamid Karzai than mollifying a war-weary American public.
ReplyDeleteDemocrats criticized Obama's escalation of the 8-year-old war after his prime-time speech Tuesday night at West Point, N.Y. Republicans are unhappy with his promise to withdraw troops in 18 months, but Congress appears willing, nevertheless, to approve the buildup's $30 billion price tag.
Sen. John McCain said he supports the build up but thinks it's wrong to signal in advance when a troop withdrawal might start. "We don't want to sound an uncertain trumpet to our friends in the region," the Arizona Republican said.
McCain asked Gates if the U.S. would withdraw troops based on "an arbitrary date."
Gates replied "I think it's the judgment of all of us ... that we would be in a position particularly in uncontested areas where we would be able to begin that transition."
He said the July 2011 date was chosen because it was two years after the Marines went into Helmand province in a new push last summer. The secretary said he thought the United States would be in a position by December 2010 to determine whether it could begin a withdrawal by July 2011.
At another point, the secretary said: "Quite frankly, I detest the phrase exit strategy ... because we are looking over time at a relationship" with the government where it can accept responsibility for the country's security.
"But over time as we are successful," Gates said, "the civilian component and the development component of our relationship with Afghanistan will become prominent. ... We must not repeat the mistake of 1989 and turn our back on these folks."
Clinton, for her part, said: "I do not believe we have locked ourselves into leaving. But what we have done ... is to signal very clearly to all audiences that the United States is not interested in occupying Afghanistan."
Gates called the region the "epicenter of extremist jihadism," reminding lawmakers that local and foreign Muslims had joined before — in defeating the former Soviet Union. "For them to be seen to defeat the sole remaining superpower in the same place would have severe consequences for the United States and the world," Gates said.
Congress was using the high-profile hearings to express its misgivings. Obama's escalation strategy won quick backing from NATO allies. Afghan leaders praised the speech, but also had questions about the 18-month timetable for withdrawal.
And a Taliban spokesman said Wednesday that Obama's plan was "no solution" to Afghanistan's troubles.
Obama pledged Tuesday night to an audience of Army cadets at the U.S. Military Academy that the shift from surge to exit strategy would depend on the military situation in Afghanistan.
"We will execute this transition responsibly, taking into account conditions on the ground," Obama said, declaring that the nation's security was at stake and that the additional troops were needed to "bring this war to a successful conclusion."
The planned infusion of 30,000 U.S. troops would raise the total American military presence in Afghanistan to about 100,000.
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he expected the allies to bolster the American buildup with more than 5,000 additional troops. Gates said the administration would seek 5,000 to 7,000 allied forces and "expect them to share more of the burden in training, equipping, and funding" the Afghan forces.
We need to pull out of Afghan and Iraq ASAP/NOW!!!
Obama isn't going to win the war in just 1 1/2yrs. This war will last forever and we need to stop it before any more of our kids die.
The only way to defeat an enemy like Radical Islam is to defeat them in every way possible. We must be victorious and painful on the battlefield, and we must live daily lives that stand in opposition to their religion of hate. This must be done in our schools, homes, churches and parks.
ReplyDeleteThe future of peace, liberty and the American way cannot be outsourced to India.
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ReplyDeletemy goodness...i really don't like when people take others' words out of context, twist their meanings, and then try to spread that mess around. instead of jumping to conclusions, people should listen, process, and then fairly respond OBJECTIVELY if possible!! <3
ReplyDeletesssdawna, What was taken out of context?
ReplyDelete