I’ll start off by saying that most of my articles contain personal stories which are true based on my recollections. I’m a little bit like Dragnet, in some cases the names have been changed or omitted to protect the innocent.

This is such a case about my father-in-law, the greatest man I know, I know he’s the greatest because he raised the best man I know, my husband. My father-in-law spent 23 years on active duty in the Air Force, including 2 years in Vietnam, tours in Germany, Turkey as a defense attaché, and the remainder of his career in studies and analysis at the Pentagon, before retiring in 1981 as a Sr Master Sargent.

He could have just stayed home and relaxed after all those years of service, but he chose to serve the nation again, this time at GSA, spending another 22 years there. My husband and I married in 1987, and in all these years his only answer about anything he’s done for the government has been admin work. While that answer is technically true, when he retired from GSA what he’d been doing all these years took shape, became clear.  He was a director at GSA and had the respect of all the people who’d worked for him, they marveled that they’d never had a director carry the burn bag, for context the burn bag is the bag that classified materials are placed into and burned or pulped once they are no longer needed.  Previous directors saw this as too menial a task for them. They posited that the new director wouldn’t offer.

We learned that he helped stand up The Homeland Security Agency. He oversaw and helped obtain security clearances for the newly formed agency. They joked that they better not roast him too hard because he knew all the stupid “stuff” they’d ever done. My father-in-law is a patriot, he protected the secrets of this nation, he protected his family, and protected the personal information even of those people who did “stupid stuff.” 

My point is this, there are hundreds of people like my father-in-law protecting us, and our nation’s secrets, they carry the burn bag, they keep our secrets safe, and they’re not often offered grace for breaking the rules.  Our government does allow for grace when errors occur, as we’ve witnessed for our current president and former vice president, because they owned up to and corrected the errors on their own. Our 45th president, was offered the same opportunity to correct his error and he refused. Now he’s reaping the consequences of his arrogance and hubris. Did he believe like most dictators/autocrats do that he is/was the government so everything belongs/ed to him?

At this point I don’t care what his “reasons” or motivations are. I care that our laws are followed and that he receives appropriate punishment for all his crimes, even the ones he committed before he was elected, as the law and statutes of limitations in the respective states allow.  

I want people like my father-in-law to know that their duty and patriotism has not been in vain. We as citizens of this nation should prove that our words are not meaningless when we say thank you for your service. Because gratitude means so much more than empty words on Memorial Day, Veteran’s Day, and the 4th of July. It means protecting their sacrifice and service with the rule of law when necessary. It’s about right and wrong, not Left or Right. It is so much bigger than one person. Would you carry and defend the burn bag for them?

 Your answer says more about your loyalty to this country and our patriots than any other actions you take or words you speak. I hope you think hard and choose wisely and honestly.