The following Letter was submitted to the Virginia Pilot on June 14. I recently moved to Virginia Beach and subscribe to the Pilot.
It is great to be back in a military town! Growing up in the Air Force, my sisters and I absorbed the pride and pomp of being an officer’s child. Dad flew bombers, the big guys (B48s and B52s). WWII took his crew over the Pacific during low-level bombing of Tokyo and Saipan. They survived—barely.
You might surmise that my dad was a gung-ho patriot, but you would be mistaken. He was a discerning man who thought for himself. War is never an answer but sometimes its all we get when not to go to war would imperil the nation.
If Dad were alive today, he would be alarmed that we are not paying attention to the forces of authoritarianism in our country and the world. This was how Hitler and Stalin got so far. People doubted that such men could rise to power. Some welcomed them thinking they were intelligent, bold men.
It’s a curious thing that people confuse strongmen with strong leadership. If I am not mistaken, these are two different creatures. The first acts as a centrifugal force, sucking minds to its ideology, the latter upholds the law and invokes the principles that we have agreed to live by.
Beware America. Don’t look to strong men but rather to strong leaders who remind us of our common pledge to uphold certain inalienable rights for every person. Each one of us voters signed up for it. We are a nation governed by laws and each of us is responsible for making sure this is a Republic for the people and by the people. Whoever we choose to represent us must abide by the laws that govern us.
Submitted on June 14, 2022 In Response to the January 6 Insurrection Commission
https://www.c-span.org/video/?520282-1/open-testimony-january-6-committee
Susan Feathers 
Hi Susan! Excellent post. Didn’t know that about your dad. What a mental /moral/ humanistic burden we put on the persons in our military. Especially in this era a perpetual war. And a reasoned, thoughtful comment on what’s going on in DC with the hearings. Sadly, I think it is just a charade. T will never be indited.. It will all come to naught. Yeah – pessimistic I know but it seems to be the way the ball is bouncing these days.
Good thing I love the earth and have sanctuary at 4012. We have a family (4 and mama) of skunks in the back yard which visit the bird feeder droppings early a.m.and p.m. – then they wander into the pasture – nipping at each other much in the manner of juvenilles everywhere – pushing and shoving. I’ll send a pic on the phone I took this a.m. Stay well. Keep writing.
Eleanor
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