I'm remembering the early days when I first became a Convention of States volunteer in 2016.
My very first volunteer assignment was to help my Northern Virginia team collect petitions at the Prince William County Fair.
Later I brought my son with me to help collect petitions at the Occoquan Arts and Crafts Show.
The most exciting event was helping collect petitions at Liberty Farm Festival in Paris, Virginia. One of the many speakers at this festival was constitutional attorney Michael Farris, who explained Convention of States.
I was absolutely thrilled to be with volunteers from across Virginia, West Virginia, and even New York--all liberty lovers. I was especially geeked out to join the photo shoot. I am sitting at Michael Farris's feet, a metaphor for the previous 20 years when I followed his teachings on the Constitution as a homeschooler.
Michael Farris will go down in history for making homeschool legal. I am proud to be part of one of the organizations he founded.
After my shift ended for collecting petitions, I listened to some of the other speakers. One of them was Trevor Loudon from New Zealand. I wondered why would a New Zealander be speaking at an American Patriotism rally?
The first is simple. Gratitude. My country was saved in World War II by the huge sacrifice of your fathers, and uncles, and grandfathers at the Battles of Guadalcanal, the Coral Sea, and Midway. And it still resonates in my country, today.
This isn't just about America. The free world is at stake. Because if America goes, we all go. Not one free country will remain standing. -Trevor Loudon
Even COS endorser Eric Metaxas wrote in his 2016 book If You Can Keep It that America exists not only for itself but also for others. From the viewpoint of being a descendant of Greek immigrants, he explores the hope of American liberty to a people who have not yet experienced it.
Therefore, if in any case we care about the rest of the world, we must first "keep" this republic. We are to shine not so that we can admire our own brightness but so that we hold out a beacon of hope to the rest of the world. Our exceptionalism is not just for us but for others. -Eric Metaxas, If You Can Keep It
I'm also remembering Memorial Day. Every year my kids and I go to Arlington National Cemetery to visit the grave of my mom's cousin, who died in World War II.
PFC Byron Kenneth Chatham enlisted in the Air Corps after Pearl Harbor in 1941. He was a tail gunner on a B-29 dubbed "City of Burbank" and stationed on Guam. He wanted to see his wife for their September wedding anniversary but needed extra missions to earn leave.
Therefore he volunteered for a mission that was to be his last. On June 5, 1945, an armada of 30 bombers among 473 planes set forth. In the bombing attack Japanese fighters snared "City of Burbank," causing it to veer out of formation.
After a spin and barrel roll, it regained level flight when Japanese fighters pressed the attack. At 30 feet one of the eyewitnesses noted a wing had come off. While the bomber spiraled down, six parachutes were seen ballooning into the air when the plane crashed into a dry creek bed.
Later, Commanding Officer Frederick M. Hopkins, Jr. wrote these words to Kenneth's wife:
On Memorial Day, May 30, 1946, services were held for those who paid the highest price and those missing in action. It is our desire that you should know that we have a more personal appreciation of the heroic deeds of your loved one. He was a man of the Twentieth Air Force. His every flight, and his every mission was a personal act of service in the highest tradition of the Air Corps.
Kenneth's body was not found for another five years. When they were, he and four others from the B-29 fortress known as "City of Burbank" were buried between the weeping willows, near the dry creek bed in Arlington National Cemetery. They rest among many others who also risked risked their lives, so we could be free and enjoy the good old days.
This year my kids and I won't be able to visit Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day, because it will be closed due to the coronavirus lockdowns.
And for the last several weeks, my fellow Convention of States volunteers have not been able to hold their usual petition-gathering events at fairs and other public gatherings.
For the last couple of months Americans have lost their jobs, businesses, incomes, and their freedoms. When will the governors return the freedoms for which our fathers, uncles, and grandfathers fought? When will we return to the good old days?
As one brave lady said, "It is not selfish to feed my kids."
It is not selfish to restore America.
If you would like to return to the good old days, visit Open The States to meet like-minded patriots across the nation, who are joining forces to make this happen.
Carry on the legacy of those who fought and died for our freedoms.
