Christmas. 4, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT<\/time><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

This piece is part of<\/em>“<\/em><\/strong>America in the balance: The fight for our history and future<\/a><\/em>,”<\/em><\/strong>a special series from MS NOW that explores where we are as a nation as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.<\/em><\/p>\n

When I flew over countries like Iraq and the former Yugoslavia as a Marine Corps F\/A-18 pilot, I often wondered how they came to be ruled by authoritarians<\/a>. During our conflicts with those countries, I read every book I could to help me understand the culture, history and more recent events that led up to the U.S. military darkening their skies.<\/p>\n

I spent 20 years of my life as a Marine Corp fighter pilot, and I savored every minute of my time wearing my nation’s uniform. The memories of my service still fill me with pride. Not only was I honored to help defend our nation’s ideals, but I enjoyed the camaraderie of educated, confident and highly driven individuals who were honored to do the same.<\/p>\n

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I spent 20 years of my life as a Marine Corp fighter pilot, and I savored every minute of my time wearing my nation’s uniform.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
If you had asked me before I retired in 2005 how I’d feel on July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary, I would have imagined I’d be feeling every bit of the pride I felt when I was in international skies defending our country, but the creeping authoritarianism of the last decade, and the willingness of so many Americans to accept it, has me worried.<\/p>\n
More than five years ago, after insurrectionists (including some with military training<\/a>) stormed the Capitol, I wrote a column expressing my anger<\/a> — if only to signal the social media group of former Marine Corps fighter pilots I had belonged to. I have found that the overwhelming majority of the Marine fighter pilots I know support President Donald Trump, and while I have priceless memories of my time with those who were as close as brothers in my USMC squadrons, their continuing support for this lawless president has divided me from them.<\/p>\n
I don’t think the average U.S. citizen appreciates the sheer luck involved in our nation’s formation. Our founding fathers, men of great intellect, morals and courage, were not only alive at one time — at one place in history; they were willing to risk everything to form what would become the world’s greatest democracy. But we can’t count on luck to get us back to where we need to be. We need a renewed commitment to the American idea.<\/p>\n
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When I was flying over other countries and thinking about how their authoritarian regimes developed, I never imagined that I’d one day be asking similar questions about my own country.<\/p>\n
Today, we are clearly drifting further and further into authoritarianism. Look at the evidence. Last year, the president staged a military parade on his birthday<\/a> and warned that anyone who showed up to protest would be met with “very big force … very heavy force<\/a>.” Like dictators in other parts of the world have done, Trump has had enlarged photos of himself hung on government buildings<\/a>. He had to be forced to take his name off the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts<\/a> in Washington. I remember seeing Saddam Hussein’s picture on the currency of Iraq<\/a>and I can’t believe I’m living in an America where a president is trying to create a $250 dollar bill with his face on it<\/a>.<\/p>\n
But it’s not just Trump putting his name and face on everything that’s the problem. He’s pushed the Department of Justice to charge his political opponents<\/a> and dissidents with made-up crimes. When immigration agents killed Alex Pretti and Renée Good in January in Minneapolis, the Trump administration labeled them domestic terrorists<\/a>. His administration has seized ballots in Atlanta<\/a>and he has tried to take over the election process<\/a> — by executive order. His defense secretary has pushed out exemplary high-ranking military officers<\/a> for no discernible reason and has reportedly blocked the promotions of deserving women and racial minorities<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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I put my life on the line as often as I did because I believe America is worth dying for.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n
After he lost to former President Joe Biden in 2020, Trump was the first American president to refuse to participate in a peaceful transfer of power.<\/a> He instead incited a Jan. 6, 2021, riot that will forever be a stain on our nation’s history. Even now, he continues to lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him. He doesn’t endorse candidates (or hire for his administration) people who tell the truth that Biden won fair and square.<\/p>\n
I don’t know how we got here. The book that fully explains our own country’s descent into authoritarianism has not been written. I’m not sure any book will ever be able to fully explain it.<\/p>\n
I have often wondered what the great men who founded our country — men like Washington, Jefferson and Hamilton — would think of a man like Trump. What would they think of us for electing him?<\/p>\n
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Though my pride is now mixed with worry and disappointment, I love my country as much as I ever have. I put my life on the line as often as I did because I believed America was worth dying for.<\/p>\n
President Abraham Lincoln famously began his 1863 Gettysburg Address<\/a> with an acknowledgement of July 4, 1776, the day we’re remembering today. He said the people present that day to dedicate the site of a major Civil War battle as a cemetery were there to “highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain — that this nation shall have a new birth of freedom — and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.”<\/p>\n
Though it’s exactly that kind of government that seems to be dying. This day — the 250th anniversary of our country — is the day that we should all resolve to help bring such a government back to life.<\/p>\n
This is our country. You don’t have to have ever been in the military to fight for what it ought to be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Richard Westmoreland, Lt. Col. Marine Corps (Ret.) served as an F\/A-18 pilot in the Marine Corps. He flew more than 100 missions in two conflicts, earning five air medals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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Christmas. 4, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT This piece is part of“America in the balance: The fight for our history and future,”a special series from MS NOW that explores where we are as a nation as we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. When I flew over countries like Iraq […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trump"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25325\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}