It was a great morning attending a Veterans Appreciation program at the Alpha Omega Academy. My granddaughter and her fellow students put on program honoring the past and present veterans, who have served and are currently serving this country.
I was impressed with the program and impressed with what the children were taught and what they presented. Our children are our future.
My dad has told me many times over the course of my life that we must not forget where we came from, we must know and remember our history, and we must remember the sacrifice it took to obtain the many rights and privileges many take for granted in America. Otherwise, we are destined to make the same mistakes again, and risk losing the basic rights we enjoy in America.
In America we have key freedoms including free speech, free press, religion, assembly, and petition. As well as protections like due process, jury trials, and freedom from unreasonable search and seizures, all rooted in the US Constitution’s Bill of Rights. These freedoms shape our daily life, from personal autonomy to political participation.
Just last week, on Nov. 3, we voted and let our voices be heard through our votes. Regardless of your party affiliation, your religion, your race, or your ethnicity, you voted for the individuals whom you believed best represented you in your city, your state, and our country. We cannot forget that freedom is not free.
America has a 250-year history of fighting for and creating a country that is the envy of many, even to the point that other countries are trying to destroy everything we have, because they don’t understand or can’t have the freedoms we enjoy in America.
I’m reminded that Rome during its time was much like America and had great influence across the world and was the greatest empire of the world. Rome fell due to a combination of internal decay and external pressures, including political instability, government corruption, economic trouble, military defeats, and uncontrolled immigration.
Again, we must learn from the mistakes of others, or we are destined to make the same mistakes. Many of these mistakes, we do not get a “do over.”
Remember, freedom is not free. Veterans thank you and I, for one, salute you.
Call us if you need us.
Steven Jeter is Chief of Police in Trinity.
