Funding The Future Today

Life or Death Question…

When I was a senior in High School my English Civilization instructor was Dr. R. Lawrence Dowell, as best I recall.

President Kennedy had just been assassinated.  We lived in a suburb of Washington, D.C.  As you can imagine, we were young and distraught.  This was a world-changing moment for all of us.

In the midst of this,  my instructor asked me to stand up to answer a question.  What he asked me was this:  ”Would you be willing to die for the President of the United States?”  Or, “would you be willing to die for the Presidency of the United States?”  I chose the Presidency, the institution…not the man.

So, at this time of remembrance of wars present and past, what makes me so proud of our armed forces is that they will not only die for the preservation of our institutions but they will die for the man, the President, the Vice President, the Chief Justice and the janitor who cleans their offices.

You see, they are willing to die for me individually, for you, for your children, for your grand children.  They are willing to take the bullet, to step in between me and certain death.

This may come as a surprise to you but it does not come as a surprise to them.  They are committed to protecting us.  They protect our insane right to be wrong, our right to disagree, our right to be politically “left” or “right. ”

They protect the institutions AND the individuals.  They are willing to die to protect even those who despise them.

Since most of us are not willing to die for the man as well as the office, perhaps the least we can do is honor those who do, who have, and who always will…Our national heroes!