In an old cemetery in Virginia, there is a tombstone with my name on it. Underneath my name is the inscription “Captain Revolutionary War”.

Buried in a mass grave by the British, at a place that was called Wall Bay during the Revolutionary War era, lie the remains of another of my ancestors who was taken prisoner by the British and who died aboard their prison ship located there. Wall Bay is now the location of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in the Borough of Brooklyn, New York – just across that famous bridge from Manhattan. My ancestor’s history was unknown to me at the time that I served at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, in the early 1960’s.

I have other direct ancestors who fought for the Union in the Civil War and some that fought for the Confederacy.

My mother’s brother was killed in Germany in WW II. His body was not returned home for several years. He had fought for some time in a unit that included Congressional Medal of Honor holder Audie Murphy. I know this because Audie Murphy told me. Murphy was from a small town just a few miles from where I grew up and he would visit the area occasionally. When I was 14 years old, I got to sit down with him and have a one-on-one conversation.

Two of my wife’s uncles (who were brothers) lie buried in the Oise-Aisne American Cemetery near  Paris, France, and close to where they died in service to our country. By the way… they were both Hispanic.

Then I did my “bit” – serving during the Cold War, in the U.S. Navy, as an enlisted man, with a battle station aboard an aircraft carrier for a while, working with Navy Public Relations in New York City while my ship was undergoing renovations at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and, finally, working on the staff of the Commander of the Atlantic Fleet Submarine Force, Norfolk, VA, as a “Journalist”.

OK… so… blogger… where are you going with all this?

Your blogger is ANGRY!!!!!! My ancestors, I hope, did not serve and die in vain!

I’m sure that many of you have family histories and military service records similar to mine and that you may be angry, as I am, at the attacks upon our history, our military, our culture, our religious institutions, our beliefs and our Constitution. You may be angry enough to DO SOMETHING! If your family fought and died for our Constitution and our way of life and, if you want to respect their sacrifice, DO SOMETHING. If you are angry, as I am, then I urge you to DO SOMETHING – but keep it within the Constitutional boundary of expressing your anger peaceably! Pick up the phone and call your Congressman, your Senator, and your Washington State office holders. It’s not so bad. It could be someone like me answering the phone in the Congressman’s office – as I and my wife did when attending college in Washington, D.C. and working on Capitol Hill.

You are likely aware that the Bremerton City Council did not take up the resolution on becoming a “Welcoming City.” I would like to thank KPTP President Johnny Walker for his presentation at the Council’s meeting on behalf of the members of KPTP.  I would, also, like to thank those of you who wrote letters, sent emails and called the Bremerton City Council. Council President Younger noted that there were 24 letters received in favor of the “Welcoming City” resolution and 40 letters received against it. The nays won this time, but this fight is not yet over.

Finally, I urge each of you to engage and keep our Republic on course with its timeless principles and in the words of 9/11, Flight 93, hero Todd Beamer: “Let’s roll!”