We often view the use of the word, creed, in a religious context, and rightfully so; but at its essence, a creed is a belief that is fundamental, a guiding principle. This Podcast is dedicated to the principle of freedom and liberty. The antithesis of freedom and liberty is oppression. The right to be free is a fundamental belief in American culture, and must never be taken for granted or abused. Therefore, the creed of freedom is more important than any other principle or belief...indeed, perhaps the most important.
Memorial Day is a day to remember the fallen, who paid the ultimate price for freedom and liberty; who preserved this amazing idea, largely, for complete strangers. May we never forget them!
SPEAKER_00
Hello again, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to another episode of Freedom's Creed. Today is Monday, May the 30th, 2022, and it is Memorial Day, a day that has been set aside for us to honor and remember those who truly gave the last full measure of devotion to our country. This episode will be somewhat abbreviated, but I did want to share some thoughts that I have on this Memorial Day, and I hope that whatever you're doing today or in the days to follow, that you will do something that will help you to remember those who truly gave the last full measure of devotion to you and to me in laying down their lives in defense of freedom and liberty. Throughout our history, thousands upon thousands have given their lives in defense of freedom for causes that may be debatable until the end of time. In other words, we may not have always agreed with the reason why we entered a war or a conflict, but there were and there are today people who continue to raise their right hand to defend and protect the Constitution of the United States. So whatever the cause of a war, and we can debate that, of course, anytime, but it is really, in my opinion, it's not really relevant to the fact that there have been thousands upon thousands of people who have given their lives in defense of our country. So it seems to me that the reason for any conflict that we've ever had must never outweigh the lives that were lost during any of the wars that America's best have ever fought in. And on this memorial day, we remember all who have given the last full measure of devotion. Throughout all of America's conflicts, there have been some battles that have been forgotten or that have not been given the attention, perhaps, that they deserve, such as the Korean conflict and the Vietnam War. Those are two that come to mind readily. Obviously, the American Revolution, the war for independence from Great Britain, as well as our own civil war, are probably two of the most prominent wars that we've ever experienced in our country. And for most of us over the last 20 years or so, we remember the conflict with the war on terror, as it was so called, and all the lives that have been lost and lives that have been permanently destroyed because of that conflict. But again, regardless of the conflict, it's difficult to put a price on the value of one life in one conflict, say for instance the war in Iraq, against the value of a life of one who served in World War II or the First World War, or the war for independence, or any other conflict. Life is precious and every life matters, especially those of our veterans who have sacrificed their very lives for the causes that our country has been involved in. But on this Memorial Day I am acting as a voice to shine a light on a segment of those who gave the last full measure of devotion in a different way, and that terribly tragic way is suicide. There have been far too many suicides of our veterans over the last particularly twenty years, but going back even before that, and even one of those suicides by veterans is a tragedy that we all wish could have and could be avoided. In talking about veteran suicides, particularly those suicides that were likely brought on because of post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD, which I might add, it is difficult to determine how a life is ended and what led to that life being ended, but none of us can deny the fact that PTSD had to have played a factor in the suicides of many of our choicest veterans. And I'm here to say that veterans who have taken their own lives relating to PTSD should be no less remembered than those who died on the battlefield. The bottom line here, ladies and gentlemen, is that the ravages of war are hell. There's no other way to describe it. And for those who come back after doing the bidding of the leaders of our country to defend our way of life and liberty and freedom abroad deserve access to the best kind of treatment possible and not just a pill or some kind of other band-aid to pacify the veteran, but given access to counseling and every other mental health benefit known to mankind, they deserve nothing less. And we as a people should demand nothing less from our leaders that the veterans who come back get access to the care that they need and to the help that they need and to the understanding and the empathy and compassion that they really, really deserve. And there's no excuse in my mind for allowing veterans to be homeless or to languish because of mental health issues or PTSD or what have you. Just no reason for it. They did what was expected of them. Our leaders, and all of us as taxpayers should not have a problem at all with providing the help that these individuals need and frankly deserve. And I don't want to get off track here, but there is so much fraud, waste, and abuse with the taxpayers' money, it's unbelievable. We're sending billions of dollars abroad to help other people fight in their war when we're not even willing to have the same amount or even more funds to support the veterans who come back and who are trying to be integrated into society to simply be considered contributing members of the society. Is that too much to ask? But as I said, I don't want to get off track, which I already kind of did, but there is no reason why we shouldn't have the best treatment available to veterans when they come back to help them deal with the trauma and the stress and the anxiety of fighting in a war. Don't talk to me about other people, young people particularly, who have never served, who would never even think about serving. Don't talk to me about their anxieties or whatever social construct that seems to be afflicting some people today in our society. And I'm not saying here that I don't have compassion for those who have anxiety issues or have other social issues that are difficult for them to deal with on a daily basis. I get it, that happens. But we're talking about people who have dedicated their lives to defending the constitution of our country. They deserve nothing less than the best that we can offer them. Period. And yes, I did mention that it's difficult to put a value on one life and compare it to another life and say, oh yeah, well, this individual definitely was worth more than that individual. No, that's not the case. There's no one individual walking the planet who's better or who deserves better than any other person. Period. But on this Memorial Day, I am talking about veterans. I'm talking about veterans who come back with PTSD and who eventually take their own life. That is a tragedy and it should be avoided at all cost. And all of us should be willing to help, even if it's simply paying a little higher in our tax rate. To me, it's worth it. Well, ladies and gentlemen, I believe that Memorial Day should engender in each of us a little more compassion, a little more empathy for those who have laid down their lives to defend the cause of freedom, wherever it might be. And as I did last year on Memorial Day, or at least the day after Memorial Day, I want to conclude the episode by reading the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. Forescore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are here engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of it as a final resting place for those who died here, that the nation might live. This we may in all propriety do, but in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have hallowed it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, while it can never forget what they did here. It is rather for us, the living, we here be dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they here gave the last full measure of devotion, that we here highly resolve these dead shall not have died in vain, that the nation shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people by the people for the people shall never perish from the earth. End of quote. If you can think it, you can plan it. If you can plan it, you can do it.
