Richard Overton; Age 110. America’s Oldest Living Veteran
Today, we send out a hearty salute and cheer to our brother and sister veterans, remembering that all gave some, and some gave all. From Richard Overton, age 110, the oldest living veteran, to the young men and women that are receiving their DD 214s on this auspicious day, we honor you and thank you for your service. We thank you for taking your oath and more importantly for honoring it. Our liberties are in constant peril from within and without and we know that every one of you has played a part in helping us secure our liberties for ourselves and for those that come after us.
Each veteran of military service, past, present, and future, shares two great things in common:
First, We all swore the same oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.”
Second: We all were willing to go into harms way, even to the point of giving our lives if need be, to keep that oath. As has been said:
A veteran – whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve – is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The ”United States of America”, for an amount of ”up to and including his life.”” – Author Unknown
That is what sets us apart. Yes, politicians, judges, lawyers, etc. also swear that same oath, but they rarely, if ever, will be called upon to risk death to keep it. We have, we do, and we will. And that is why we are part of America’s warrior class, while they are not.
Who else is in that American warrior class? Clearly police officers, fire-fighters, Search and Rescue, EMTs, and other first-responder personnel also put themselves at risk, every day, in service to their communities and thus also deserve to be counted as our brothers and sisters. Today, we raise a glass in toast to them as well. As our Florida Oath Keepers LEO Liaison put it:
To those that served before me, thank you for what you did to make this the GREATEST NATION ON EARTH.
To those that served after me, thank you for carrying on the OATH, and continuing the service, so that I and my family can sleep, in peace, at night. As George Orwell pointed out, “people sleep peacefully in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.”
Thank you ROUGH MEN (and WOMEN) for your service.
– Ernie Bridges, 82nd Airborne veteran, Jacksonville, FL PD (retired).
The Oath Keepers mission is dedicated to the memory of John Adams, who, at the age of 16, lied about his age to join the Marines to fight against Imperial Japan in the Pacific. His enlistment date was December 10, 1941, just three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. He served as a Paramarine, and fought the Japanese from island to island, across the pacific, including at the battle of Iwo Jima. May you have the courage to follow his example.
But what about the people themselves, who may not have yet served in an official capacity? Under the design of the Founders, every able-bodied American is the militia and was expected to train, organize, equip and answer the call whenever their town, county, state or nation was in need. We are all meant to be warriors, as is fitting of a free people. But, thanks to the politicians, the people are no longer formed up into well organized, trained, and equipped militia units (something we are working to change!). And, unfortunately, many modern Americans lack the martial virtues and are entirely incompetent to even defend their own lives against evil, let alone defend others (and that too is something we are working to change, staring on our college campuses).
Well, even if you have never served officially, if you are a patriotic American gun owner who considers yourself a “sheepdog” and you actually strap on a gun and blade each day as you go about your business, and most importantly, if you are willing to run toward the sound of the guns while others run away, and are willing to step between your fellow Americans and violent evil, in defense of life, liberty, property and the Constitution, then you too brother and sister, are an American warrior, and we count you among us, as part of the American warrior class. Please join us today, and give a salute or raise a glass in remembrance of all who served this nation.
And then remember your duty to ensure that all they sacrificed was not in vain.
In honor of our military veterans, please watch this interview with the late WWII Army Airborne combat veteran Renn Bodeker, one of the 11th Airborne heroes who parachuted in behind enemy lines at the Los Baños internment camp in the Philippines to rescue over 2,100 POWs (including men, women, and children) from certain death at the hands of Japanese Imperial Army war criminals who planned to execute them all:
Remember what he and his buddies went through, and then heed his warning.
We must remain ever vigilant and band together to continue the battle for the preservation of our liberties and we look to our nation’s veterans to lead the way; men and women who know what it means to serve and to sacrifice. Oath Keepers was founded for this purpose and we will continue on this path as long as there is breath left in us. We will unite the American warrior class, and then lead the people in restoring our Constitution.
Just this week, the American people chose a new President. We don’t yet know what a Donald Trump administration is going to look like, but we do know the American people rejected a career criminal, corrupt establishment insider, and confirmed oath-breaker that very likely would have marched us straight to war with Russia for no good purpose. We don’t have exact numbers yet, but veterans voted for Donald Trump by roughly a 2 to 1 margin. Regardless of who you voted for, war should not be entered into lightly as veterans know all too well. It remains to be seen if President-Elect Donald Trump will honor his oath office once he is sworn in, but we will be watching, and if he strays off course, we will call him on it, as duty demands.
We pray for peace while we prepare for war; so it has always been since the founding of this great Republic.
There are many veterans out there today that are hurting in many different ways. Reach out to them and let them know you’re there for them any time they need you.
Once again, we thank you for your service and we stand with you as you continue to honor your oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.
For the Republic,
Oath Keepers
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