This venerable and much honored WW II vet is well known in Hawaii for his seventy-plus years of service to patriotic organizations and causes all over the country. A humble man without a political bone in his body, he has never spoken out before about a government official, until now.
He dictated this letter to a friend, signed it and mailed it to the president.
snopes.com: Letter to President Obama -
Harold Este, 95 Year Old WWII Battleship Sailor Tells OBAMA to “Shape Up or Ship Out!”
Dear President Obama,
My name is Harold Estes, approaching 95 on December 13 of this year. People meeting me for the first time don’t believe my age because I remain wrinkle free and pretty much mentally alert.
I enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1934 and served proudly before, during and after WW II retiring as a Master Chief Bos’n Mate. Now I live in a “rest home” located on the western end of Pearl Harbor, allowing me to keep alive the memories of 23 years of service to my country.
One of the benefits of my age, perhaps the only one, is to speak my mind, blunt and direct even to the head man.
So here goes.
I am amazed, angry and determined not to see my country die before I do, but you seem hell bent not to grant me that wish.
I can’t figure out what country you are the president of. You fly around the world telling our friends and enemies despicable lies like:
“We’re no longer a Christian nation”
“America is arrogant” – (Your wife even announced to the world, “America is mean-spirited. “Please tell her to try preaching that nonsense to 23 generations of our war dead buried all over the globe that died for no other reason than to free a whole lot of strangers from tyranny and hopelessness.)
I’d say shame on the both of you, but I don’t think you like America, nor do I see an ounce of gratefulness in anything you do, for the obvious gifts this country has given you. To be without shame or gratefulness is a dangerous thing for a man sitting in the White House.
After 9/11 you said,” America hasn’t lived up to her ideals.” Which ones did you mean? Was it the notion of personal liberty that 11,000 farmers and shopkeepers died for to win independence from the British? Or maybe the ideal that no man should be a slave to another man, that 500,000 men died for in the Civil War? I hope you didn’t mean the ideal 470,000 fathers, brothers, husbands, and a lot of fellas I knew personally died for in WWII, because we felt real strongly about not letting any nation push us around, because we stand for freedom.
I don’t think you mean the ideal that says equality is better than discrimination. You know the one that a whole lot of white people understood when they helped to get you elected.
Take a little advice from a very old geezer, young man.
Shape up and start acting like an American. If you don’t, I’ll do what I can to see you get shipped out of that fancy rental on Pennsylvania Avenue. You were elected to lead not to bow, apologize and kiss the hands of murderers and corrupt leaders who still treat their people like slaves.
And just who do you think you are telling the American people not to jump to conclusions and condemn that Muslim major who killed 13 of his fellow soldiers and wounded dozens more. You mean you don’t want us to do what you did when that white cop used force to subdue that black college professor in Massachusetts, who was putting up a fight? You don’t mind offending the police calling them stupid but you don’t want us to offend Muslim fanatics by calling them what they are, terrorists.
One more thing. I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you’re the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you’re not in this fight to win, then get out. The life of one American soldier is not worth the best political strategy you’re thinking of.
You could be our greatest president because you face the greatest challenge ever presented to any president.
You’re not going to restore American greatness by bringing back our bloated economy. That’s not our greatest threat. Losing the heart and soul of who we are as Americans is our big fight now.
And I sure as hell don’t want to think my president is the enemy in this final battle.
Sincerely,
Harold B. Estes
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE
Technorati Tags: 95 yr old, wwii vet, ww ii battleship sailor, obama, shape up or ship out, harold estes
January 17, 2010 @ 2:02 am
I still believe we are a christian nation yet you have refused to see, as I have that americans are arrogant. Being American Indian. I have been told to go back to mexico asked if I am really getting a job or show my case worker that I am trying to get one. Which I never had a case worker before. I work for a living and my husband has giving twenty years of service to the air force. Which I have endured with him. It was not easy.I have had a good education and try to raise my children to accept everybody as equals. but how can I when they see the white Americans treat me as such. My people are still here we are not going to disappear because you want them to. What about the way the hispanics or American Indians are being treated you never once touched on that subject. Why not blame the Army for not doing their job. Because they didnt. Some whites who say they treat people equal have lied to me. You have not opened your eyes to the reality that some Americans have lost the true understanding of equality. They have become arrogant. Stop the blame and start behaving as their for fathers wanted us to be. That we all are created equal. That we have a right to be equal. Mr Obama is trying to help piece us back together. But no one is listening. The truth hurts sometimes and we need to suck it up and face the facts and START CHANGING who we are. Obama has impressed me even though I did not vote for him he is trying to do what he thinks is right. I may not always agree with him yet I do when it comes to the Americans have become arrogant. From someone who has seen the truth.
January 17, 2010 @ 8:56 am
I am so sorry to hear that you have been treated with injustice. Thank you for your patience with those of us who try very hard to treat others the way we would like o be treated. I also agree that we have become a very proud nation and that is offensive to other countries but more importantly to God. I encourage you to look and re-look at our presidents actions. Anyone can talk, but what is he actually doing. Also, where are you gathering your information regarding those actions? If it’s from the media, most likely you are only hearing one side of the story.
As a Christian living in a quickly eroding Christian nation, I am very sensitive to any actions our president and his administration might take to hasten the destruction of the value system this country was originally built upon. The agenda this president has is not even remotely close to what our forefathers had intended. I would strongly encourage you to do a study on what the value system, of those that founded our country, was based upon and then contrast that to Obama’s agenda.
Thanks for your comments, and I truly hope you find the justice and fair treatment you deserve. Remember to look towards Christ and not to men. Men (and women of any race or creed) will generally only disappoint, in Christ their is hope.
Dave