From One of My Texas State Guard Compatriots…. Read and learn why Our Guard is so very great…..
By Randy Hilton September 4, 2016 · Haltom City, TX
One of my highest honors as an American was my role on the Color Guard, 2nd Battalion, 4th Regiment of the Texas State Guard.
Before, during and since ending my service with the Texas Guard I’ve always been apt to get misty eyed at color presentations.
Tonight, as an EMT on standby at a local football game, was no different.
Both schools appeared to be majority black so when the ROTC color guard presented the colors I was particularly impressed by the fact that everyone stood. Everyone.
And, yes, it was a misty moment for me. Tonight, I spent some time thinking about why our flag is such a big deal. Why should I pledge my allegiance to our flag?
Dirty laundry is one hallmark of this presidential election cycle. I can’t recall a time when the corruption and cronyism of our ruling parties was more abundantly clear.
I can’t recall a time when media bias has been so overt. In my lifetime, I’ve never felt like our nation was such a tinder box, ready for a spark to set us off.
Never before have I recognized the depth and breadth of oppression that our government bureaucracy has smothered us with.
Yet, I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.
Our great nation has embraced postmodern thinking — what’s right is right unless you feel differently. The goal justifies the means to attain it.
Truth and Justice are no longer called “The American Way.” We can’t even settle on the differences between man and woman.
I’ve turned away from party politics. I’ve openly questioned many of our laws. And I readily admit that we can no longer call ourselves the home of the free.
Yet, I pledge allegiance to the Flag, an emblem representing the United States of America. Why?
It’s quite simple, so don’t over think it: Our flag stands for the United States Of America. It does not represent Republicans. It’s not a Democrat. It is not about black lives, white lives, blue lives.
Our flag does not represent hyphenated Americans. It stands for THE UNITED States of America. Period.
We will always have intramural debates about laws, priorities, taxes etc. but we are ALL under the same flag. When we stop honoring the flag, we are divorcing ourselves from the family.
We are refusing to become part of the solution. We are effectively destroying our nation. Our laws are fallible and people can be horrible.
But I’m born to this nation, just as I am to my family. I can no more turn my back on this nation than I can on my family.
We have to agree on this one thing: We are Americans. If we can’t at least agree on this one point then we will never find solutions to the problems we face.
We can argue about whether or not we are now, or ever have been “great.” We can argue about what direction and how fast we need to go.
We will watch the pendulum swing from independence to nanny state and back again (I hope we’re ready for the back swing soon!)
But we cannot argue about being one nation.
We are Americans. We acknowledge that when we salute our flag.
It’s just that simple.
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