September 28, 2012

To All Americans:

It is with a heavy heart that I sit down to write this letter. However, this same heart is filled with pride for my family and my country. I am a disabled veteran and I served in the US Army in the Korean War. I spent 1951-1953 thousands of miles from my family and community. To a small town WV boy, it was a great honor to stand shoulder to shoulder with brave men and make a stand against tyranny and communism. It was also a scary time in my life, but today it fills with me pride and hope that the American way of life was kept alive. We all agree that war is hell. No one wants to send their sons, brothers, and fathers into an uncertain and dangerous situation. However, the world is not perfect and we are not perfect men. As President Ronald Reagan said , "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction." I feel that it is my duty as an American to speak up before I can no longer speak. I have spent my life working hard and providing for my family. My wonderful wife and I have been married for 58 years. We are proud of our two daughters, one an engineer/lawyer/professor and one a math teacher; and our two grandsons will be part of the future of our country. I want to leave this life knowing that our grandsons and their future families will enjoy the freedom and liberty that veterans and citizens have fought for and died for. For the first time that I can remember, I see this slipping away. Our liberties are now being trampled on by monsters who kill our citizens and servicemen and drag our ambassadors through the streets of foreign cities. We sit idle while our embassies burn. Who is standing up for the Americans killed there, including four US Navy SEALS? But, it concerns me more that our rights and freedoms are being taken away right here in this country. I have lived 83 years and I know that times do change, but the changes I am talking about are going to affect my grandsons' adult lives unless we start speaking up to say, "No more." What has happened to our great country? Where is the pride and love for God, family, and country? This is the greatest land on earth where exceptionalism is rewarded. How can it be that a collective few are now dictating how we should feel, what we should think, and we should say? Americans now live under crushing national debt an amount that our childrens grandchildren will still struggle to pay back. Christians, Jews, Catholics, and Mormons are ridiculed, while the Muslim faith is beyond reproach. God and Israel have been publicly booed at a national party convention. We are being forced to redistribute the wealth that we have worked and saved for. More Americans live in poverty than ever in our history. American children are not learning about our values and what makes America great. The USA is apologizing to the world for our success. Our President is caught on tape telling our enemy that he will have more flexibility after the election. We are told what to think, how to act, and what to eat. Does this sound like freedom? What would our forefathers say about this?

Who can forget reading the words by Patrick Henry, "Give me liberty or give me death!"? These were the last words spoken during Henry's March 23, 1775 speech in Richmond, Virginia. However, one cannot hear the following passage from the same speech and not find the relevance today: "For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offence, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings. Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past." The lamp of experience must guide us now. We cannot afford to make the mistakes of the past, while ignoring the advice of others who have tread before us in seeking freedom. As a proud American, I have often thought of the last words of Nathan Hale, a soldier in the Continental Army. He was hanged in 1776 for treason after being captured by the British. His last words were, "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." Facing his own death, he felt so strongly towards freedom that his thoughts were the wish to give more to the cause. Who among us feels this strongly today? We cannot become apathetic and lazy - we must all monitor and protect our own personal liberties. As Henry and Hale and other great Americans have realized, if you do not protect your freedom, there are those that will take it and use it against you. Like it or not, there are others who despise Americans because we are free. Is this a country where we are not allowed to speak from our hearts and must be afraid of offending others at every turn? Is this a country where our rights will be handed over to leftist tyranny? Is this a country where we turn our backs on God, from where are freedoms arise? We are now facing a time of great turmoil in the middle east. Again, we need only to look at the past to gain valuable insight. James Madison dealt with tensions in this area in the early 1800's. In a symbolic act of war against America, on 14 May 1801 the leader of Tripolitania ordered the flag staff (flying the 'Stars and Stripes') standing in front of the US consulate to be cut down. The United States had been dealing with violence and extortion by the Barbary States - Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Tripolitania, which later formed Libya. Many Americans do not realize (or were not taught) that the animosities

in the middle east were not born in the 20th century. We are fools if we think that decades of philosophical differences and foreign terrorism can be solved by appeasement to tyrants. From the "shores of Tripoli" in 1804 to the Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser calling for the "destruction" and "extermination" of Israel in the 1960's, the lamp of experience should be our guide again. And we can never forget that freedom is never free. These are just some of the reasons that America now needs a leader who understands this country and does not want to fundamentally transform us. At a time of uncertainty, do you want a leader that apologizes and hopes that centuries of hatred toward us dissolve magically, or do you want a leader who can keep peace in our land by believing in our core values of family, God, and country? Do you want a leader that buries our grandchildren in debt and slavery or a leader that understands what debt and spending can do to freedom? Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are the only hope for Americans. We must stop dwelling on petty differences and look to the future. I have seen many Presidents come and go. All leave their mark on history, but one common thread connects all great Presidents Democratic or Republican and that is the belief that the United States of America is the greatest country in the world, where citizens like me can work hard, prosper and leave a better life for our children. Talk to your family and friends and make sure that everyone votes in November. I have lived a blessed life, now it is your turn. This is the most important election in my lifetime and this is my way of saying, God bless the United States of America.

With hope and gratitude, James E. Ennis PO Box 4363 Charleston, WV 25364

Romney/Ryan 2012