Veteran's Corner

I guess I have always been a proud American, though as a tyke I didn’t always realize it. I learned my family’s ancestors even served during the American Revolution. An ancestor of mine even became POTUS. My grandfather was named after him: Martin VanBuren Conklin.

Antifa; BLM; The 1619 Project; unchecked cancel culture; defund and abuse the police; critical race theory; white supremacy; failed city, state and federal leadership or lack thereof; uncontrolled lawlessness and homelessness; the decay of morals and ethics; the recent invitation to the unvetted world to enter through our southern border now con

They can make such a big difference in our everyday lives. Little acts of kindness take little effort and have big results. 

‘Twas yet another interrupted late April night dreaming of the month of May’s possible encounter with the King of the forest, the American Tom turkey. A bird folklore states Ben Franklin nominated it as our national emblem. Not true, though I believe Tom is a worthy runner-up. I do agree with the lore regarding Ben’s beer proclamation.

This is directly related to long term lock-down of small businesses and public education that I wrote about a few months ago, when I wrote of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and its effect on the military, health care workers and civilians experiencing constant, unending stress. 

Nope, it’s not a “Star Wars” movie about Luke Skywalker defending us from the Galactic Empire, but rather the story of a modern-day hero who organized and assembled a precise and what I consider successful offensive to destroy a brutal invading virus unleashed by a foreign land.

Most of us have added to the ingredients of a cauldron of simmering political, racial and social stew over the past 10 years. A stew mostly overlooked and ignored until it boiled over on Jan. 6, that manifested over the past four years of the Trump administration. That administration’s agenda led to an extreme racial divide. 

On this post-election morning, I am retiring my worn and tattered American flag, which has served its purpose flying proudly and honorably for more than a year representing freedom and the ideals this nation was founded upon. It is now folded into 13 precise triangles, but it will never be forgotten.