LT. COLONEL JOHN 'BILL' CALHOUN
Lt. George W. Bush's Alabama Air National Guard Supervisor

FEELINGS ABOUT THE NATIONAL GUARD:

Men who rose up and defended Freedom no matter what the cost founded this country. The first defenders to take up arms were the Minutemen who were people from all walks of life who picked up their guns and went to fight. This spirit persists today in the form of the National Guard.

There are some people who would disparage Guard and Reserve service as not worthy of respect and a place where you could go to avoid real service to your country. I have heard these people for years but only since the Viet Nam war have they been given the forum of the mass media to present their lies. Currently led by the DNC and John Kerry, they have tried to change history to support their claims. Kerry, in his speeches, has likened this service to avoiding the draft and the same as running to Canada. I will not address this article to Kerry and his like because they have only one interest and that is personal power. They are willing to lie, cheat and distort and even bring this country down if necessary, to gain this power. I wish to address this to Americans who believe in our way of life and the freedoms that have made us the greatest nation in the history of the world but may not understand the roll of the American fighting man.

The National Guard has served in every declared war and many non-declared wars this country has fought during its history.

I think back to my childhood and we were in the Second World War. My brother joined the Navy to fight for his country and was sent to Nebraska to work in a munitions storage facility. My uncle was a Bomber pilot and flew many missions over Germany with Clark Gable as one of his Waist gunners. My mother went to work for Betchel/McComb making these bombers. She was a “Rosie the Riveter”. My friends and I spent our days after school and during the summers collecting string, tinfoil off gum wrappers and scrap metal, mostly nails and such from the gutters since most large pieces had already been picked up. After all, I was only seven years old. As I look back at these times I realize that it takes everyone in the nation to support our men who are on the front lines weather you are in the service or just a seven year old kid. Not every man can give his life for his country but every man should be willing to.

For you young people who do not know, we had our protesters and appeaser who wanted the United States to stay out of all wars and foreign entanglements and we also had people who wanted to change our form of Government. The latter were the most dangerous because they used our system to create doubt and distrust of our government. Fortunately the journalists of that time were journalist and many of our politicians were statesmen. What I mean is the media presented the news did not make news and the statesmen did what was best for the country, not their reelection. Look at what our President has had to endure from many of our fellow countrymen as well as many of our allies while trying to protect not just you but our United States and our way of life even when it is not in his best political interest. He is certainly the greatest statesman of our time.

We are now in a war against terrorist and the nations who support them. We must win this war and we cannot elect a President that would help our enemies just to gain the Presidency. Americans, we must defeat them at the polls as well as on the battlefields of Iraq.

Lt/Col John Calhoun
USAF Retired