Dear Dad - My ARMY Hero

Dear dad, it has come to pass that you get to enjoy my salute both days in honor our Veterans. I salute you once again this same year, on this Veterans Day 2019. I saluted you on Memorial Day past, as you always honored that day for your fallen fellow-worriers that didn’t come home and today you are, in passing, my fallen worrier. You fort the battle to defend “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” in Democracy to the end zone in celebration of “Life, Liberty and that pursuit to Happiness”. It was you and mom that instilled the latter three “guiding light” principals, in honor the definition of “Democracy” in a “Republic for which it stands" as you stood so strong throughout the years during change. Teary eyed I get, as your ending last wish with those last Patriotic breaths, you wanted to find ma and go dancing. So deserving, a true soldier ATTENTION! Yes, mom is waiting in the Heaven above for that “Last Waltz” I hope lasts throughout infinity. That is one of my fondest memories in youth, how you and mom danced hand and hand, to those big band sounds that blasted away your return from the WARS - how we honored such valor for those that went abroad to fight for our Founding Fathers “Democracy” upon which this “Republic” was founded. Funny, how “Democracy” finds its roots in the “Democrat” sense and the “Republic”…get the point - we are, we cannot be a divided nation, it just doesn’t work. The other thing I remember so well, how you and mom voiced agreement with the Democratic policy makers for so many, many years. That the republicans were only in it for themselves - for the money at everyone else’s expense. You passed away before the going got rough for Donald Trump, as today he faces a maddening crowd in favor of throwing him and his impeachable wife out of the White House. It is a disgrace upon this once Great Nation - the one you fort for and Trump thought a rain check a better hide and seek choice then a "uniform" - yet they voted for him? All good things come to an end, let’s hope not what the Founders’ gave us. Towards the end of your life, I finally asked you that question that was burning away the midnight oil as I stayed awake trying to reckon your reasoning, of why you decided after many presidential elections with the Democratic ticket in hand you went in favor of Trump, in the 2016 election. It would no doubt be the last presidential race that would honor “thou vote", as your health was diminishing, so this was it! After Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton and Obama you were winning the game! See, your reason for side-stepping that dedication to the Democratic party was straight forward and simple, and it was not a dereliction of duty. You said that people would never get behind the 8-ball to support a Donald Trump in such a leadership role, as a confident and or bonafide U.S. President. You were not a Trump fan by any stretch of one’s imagination, but you cast a vote for that party - a change of heart what had been your mainstay choice of governance for so many years as a Patriotic New Englander. I remember the day we watched as John F. Kennedy was buried, I could see flashbacks of your war memories in the ditches under fire and sweating bullets, as mom cooked diner over a hot stove. I could see that “memory” even though no longer in uniform, that the “Well Regulated Militia” had been re-activated in your thoughts, we were under attack. But today, I honor your reasoning of why you voted for Donald Trump, maybe in reasoning a “lessons learned” qualifier. When I finally had the guts to ask you point-blank why you abandoned the Democratic party, you reiterated that what makes America Great was the fact no matter what form of government gets in control of the White House for this “Republic for which we stand” that we all must get behind that leader, for good or for bad like a marriage “I do, until death do us part”. You did the same with “Ike” and with Bush senior, not by your vote cast in another direction their way, but after the inauguration. This support is paramount a strong nation “indivisible” the rest of the world can see. Else we are a divided nation and our Founding Fathers warned us about such a divide as it spells “failure”. So you decided to side with Trump, based on your passion to get behind a Commander-in-Chief early on, one that would lack such support and what does that say for our nation - when “We the People” cannot get behind the individual we call our leader. That “Indivisible” turns to mush and becomes “Divisible” and like Woody Guthrie taught me; “Mighty thin stew”! Your reasoning, this Donald Trump is still our leader even if we voted for the opposing party - we must get behind this man no matter what - hard to swallow, but as “qualified voters”, we should realize we will get another chance down the road if dissatisfied. And instead of fighting, hey didn’t we learn it all in kindergarten, to play nice? But you went on to explain why this was so, your choice to support a man who today faces “Impeachment”. Trump lives a life wherein he wants to be considered in fame, he wants to be liked and when people except him - regardless of our true-to-life feelings and political beliefs - then we control him. I think you were right, and had we gotten behind him early on his career in the Oval Office, maybe he would have compromised with the Democratic House and a Republican Senate, as a leader that promotes a bipartisan agenda good for all. We did not give Trump that benefit early on, I cannot say you were right but it makes common denominator sense, as how often do we disagree with the boss at work but to keep the company solvent, we go out of our way to do our jobs to the best of our abilities even if the boss does nothing but sit around the office and harass the secretaries. And today because of our stubbornness, we are on a crash course with destiny. So thanks for teaching me something of value when you rested so peacefully on that last bed of life, comfortable in knowing that you voted for the right individual thinking that one lonely vote here, one vote lonely vote there, maybe there was hope - we may never know if your reasoning would have worked as we did not “give peace a chance”. In hindsight, I bet it would have worked, as Trump is no fool when it comes to realizing what it takes for the citizens to smile and cheer instead of the booing. We had the opportunity to control Donald Trump, but instead of circumcising the political divide overshadowing our Democracy, we have instead demonstrated disdain for the Constitution and its merits in Democracy. I salute you dad, and sorry if we may have let you down being so selfish a party agenda that cannot work in “divide” and maybe we should have taken your word, that the Commander-in-Chief has the power to force a bipartisan agenda to stay in favor, to stay in grace those that voted for the other side. We are our own worst enemy, and how does a military man fight that? By firing the last shot effectively like you did with that last vote, against the enemy of the people as we are all accomplices in this mess. Rest in peace, no! Enjoy that dancing with your star, our mother and I SALUTE you for the rest of my life as a True Worrier. Your Son Mick.