Dear Editor,

In a response to one of my recent musings on this Opinion Page I was asked how I could consider myself an American. An interesting question asked of a person exercising his most basic of all individual rights set down in our nation's Bill of Rights - expressing his opinion in a public forum. But, what the heck - let's drill down on the reasons that I believe I am, indeed, an American.

There's birthright of course. I was born American to parents who were American. So, there's that. But I believe the idea of Americanism is considerably deeper than that. Our founders laid out a detailed road map on the fundamental concept that is "America" in our Constitution and its Bill of Rights. An American must integrate these rights into their life as well as accepting, promoting, and defending our system of government as defined and laid out in the Constitution. Period. This document is what knits us all together. If any piece of it is thrown away, our nation simply disintegrates and we go the way of the Roman Empire, the Greek Empire and become a nation ruled by the whims or our leaders that day, that month or that year. Something, in fact, that we've experienced in a very real way during the past two years.

I also believe that I, as an American, needed to find a way to serve my country and my community. For 21 years, as both an enlisted man and an officer, I took an oath on six different occasions to protect and defend our nation and the Constitution. I spent time from Vietnam to Panama to England while being a member both regular Air Force and Air National Guard rising from Airman Basic to Major doing exactly that. Something about "money where your mouth is" comes to mind.

I believe that I, as an American, should become educated - at my own expense - in a field that can both support myself and my family and contribute to the growth of myself, my community and my country. I did this through the path of communications and computer systems and technology and have been happily employed 40+ years until my retirement last year.

I believe that I, as an American, should offer myself as an example - imperfect though I may be. My wife of 50 years and I are active in our parish, have worked our entire lives, raised a family and are in the process of learning how to "retire". I find my wife is much more successful at that than I.

I believe that I, as an American, should find a way to be in service to our community. I've tried to do that through my participation in the Izaak Walton League, our local and regional Scouting community and by having a local business for nearly 40 years.

I believe that I, as an American, should offer friendship and a helping hand to anyone who needs a friend or a hand. We are all "in this" together. We rise and fall together. We are either all "Americans" or we are a bunch of disparate tribes all seeking to gain power to rule all other tribes. And that would mark the end of America.

I believe that I, as an American, have a right to speak freely, gather with my friends, defend myself and my family and friends, worship as I choose, to be safe within my home from unwarranted government intrusion and that if I commit a wrong - that I have the right to a rapid and fair trial by my peers. I believe that the Constitution is set in stone - it is not a "living document" but rather a set of "guard rails" that ensure our government remains a servant of the people and not a master to be obeyed.

I believe that in today's America our government has far exceeded their bounds as set down by the Constitution and must be reeled in. Its spending has far exceeded our nation's ability to provide them with money. Daily we see the results of simply printing money with nothing to fundamentally support its value - inflation that is nearly out of control.

And I believe that the integrity of our elections and the election process must be secured - all the way back to paper ballots and a "purple finger" if need be. Because if we lose faith in our elections - our children and grandchildren will be left with nothing but chaos.

This . . . this right here is why, when I shave in the morning, I see an American. These are my standards for me - no one else. I've lived by them for 72 years. I plan on living by them until I return "home". Each person must decide for themselves what their place in America is. And hopefully - by God's Grace - we will continue as a great and free nation. Only time will tell.

Respectfully,

Bill Keller

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BT October 28, 2022, 1:46 pm First of all, Thank You for your many years of service. That alone should be enough to show where your loyalty lies. Your exquisitely written statement is exactly how my husband and I feel. I wonder how a Democrat would write theirs.
GB October 28, 2022, 5:55 pm Bill. Thank you for your service.
JS October 28, 2022, 8:28 pm What Bill has been able to do in his military career is affectionately know as a "mustang", one that starts as enlisted and assumes Officer rank. What Bill has not said is the military awards granted to him as to his service in Vietnam and his service after.
I served during the conflict in SEA - better know as the Southeast Asia Theater. I was a short timer to be sure and it was toward the end of my five year commitment - I served as a jet pilot on KC-135 aircraft at U-Tapao RTAFB Thailand. Sharon was not happy that I volunteered for that "Young Tiger" deployment, but I felt I needed to participate to help those who had given so much to this so desperate of causes. Anyway, I escaped a tragic crash of an aircraft assigned to us. Fate is the hunter. I still to this day have guilty feelings that it should have been us, but I was spared - no way to know why - Sometimes you just have to live out what is left to you the best you can.

Anyway, it is difficult to understand those who have never committed their life or limbs to a cause ordered by higher authority - what have you given to this Republic? I felt a need to give back as many have who have taken the oath and given a blank check to higher authority. I am still proud that I wore the U.S. on my collar and the Eagle on my hat - USAF forever - fly, fight, win. This country is worth whatever sacrifice is necessary. Remember November
DC October 29, 2022, 8:06 pm Makes me proud to know you Bill.

Later
Dave
JB October 29, 2022, 10:46 pm Editor's Note:
https://vintontoday.com/articles/News/article1033186.html
DE October 31, 2022, 4:33 am The only people denying the validity of the last election are the losers. The only people prosecuted for voting illegally voted for the losers - I guess that's why they doubt the validity of the last election: every accusation is a confession, it seems. The losers stormed the Capitol in an attempted insurrection, threatened to kill the Vice President because he wouldn't go for their idiotic plan to overthrow the election. The losers attacked the husband of the second in line to the presidency because his wife wasn't home, and all because the leaders of the Loserpalooza can't accept that the majority of Americans, even with our jury-rigged election system, reject them and their hateful, ignorant lies.

But, yeah, call yourself a "patriot" and vote for those that attempted to overthrow our democracy because, like every other person in every other country in the world, you, personally, pay too much for a gallon of gas.
DL October 31, 2022, 3:07 pm Mr. Keller, I enjoyed reading this letter, and I agree with most of what you said. We should be a united country, like we were for the first 225 years of our existence.

Your letter left me wondering why you think our Constitution hasn't been followed in the last two years. I think the only example you gave was that of the government spending money. I'm a strict Fiscal Conservative, that understands, somewhat, why you would be concerned about what has happened the last few years. I don't see how you consider that spending as a Constitutional matter. I don't recall reading anything regarding what money can be spent on. Now, I also don't understand the parameters that replaced the Gold Standard, in the 70s.

Another thing I don't agree with, or understand, about your letter, is the 2020 birth of concern over our elections. I agree with you about the paper ballots. What I don't understand is; why there is such a fuss over the 2020 election, based only on the person that lost that election saying that it was fraudulent. That's where it all started. With the person that lost. He kept coming up with election issues that none of his chosen lawyers would bring up in a court of law. His lawyers were granted 62 court hearings. A hearing is the time that the lawyers have to present the evidence they have, to prove their point. Yet, none of those 62 cases saw any of the Trump lawyers present any evidence of fraud. Let me stress again. The only purpose of a hearing is for the lawyers to present the evidence to the judge. Again, in 62 cases, no Trump lawyer presented any evidence of voter fraud. The transcripts of all 62 cases are accessible online. Yet, at the same time that these court hearings were taking place, Trump had many of his lawyers present "evidence" to different state legislatures around the country. They presented some type of "evidence" to these states, but they refused to present that same "evidence" to a court of law. I also want to add that any lawyer that presents any type of false evidence, in a court of law, where fraud is being claimed, that lawyer is risking the suspension or total revocation of their law license. This really makes it look like Trump's lawyers, and Trump himself, knew that there wasn't any evidence of systemic fraud in the 2020 election.

Now, I totally support anything that will make our elections more secure. But, everything that has been discovered since November 3, 2020, pertaining to that election, shows that it was the most secure election in our history. I think every American wants our elections to be safe and fair. There just isn't any reason for the 2020 election to cause any more concern than there was prior to that election.