Friday, September 9, 2011

Dear President Obama

"We  can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are  conscious of our treasures." - Thornton Wild

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 even
                announced to the world," America is mean-
                spirited. " 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..)
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
 
Snopes  confirms as true:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/haroldestes.asp    
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1 comment:

  1. This letter is remarkable...very, very hard to believe he did this himself and/or that it is for real; however I do respect your efforts to always and only put forth stuff that has been fact-checked!
    Also, I think you should use Thatcher's quote as a standard part of your header on the page--it needs to be read and re-read and read again...

    ReplyDelete