In June 2005, a year after I got injured in Iraq, and during the process of my recovery, I was offered a part in the academy award winning documentary “No End in Sight”. In the middle of my interview I expressed interest in a round trip ticket to Baghdad, Iraq with my family. The purpose would be to tell my wife and my children where I got hurt, and how my sacrifice helped liberate that country.
It’s been 11 years…and we have still not seen the end of this terror, it feels like there is no end in sight. Last Sunday, June 12, 2016 I was woken up by an unexpected call on my wife’s cell phone from a family member. We didn’t get to the phone in time to answer, but the phone rang again, and the calls kept coming in. My family was calling to check in on me, to make sure I was ok and making sure I wasn’t having an attack of PTSD after what had just happened.
But what happened? I hadn’t had a chance to turned on my T.V and check the news.
There was a terrorist attack in my home town. A man claiming to be a part of a terrorist group went into a night club, shot and killed 50 people and wounding 50+ more. Now you’re thinking, “why would people be calling YOU to make sure YOU’RE ok, you weren’t at that club…” but I live right down the street from the shooter in Port Lucie, FL. I almost lost my life at the hands of terrorists in their country, now not only are they in MY country, they are in MY state, MY safe haven, MY cocoon from in the fast paced metropolitan area of Orlando, FL. How could this even happen? Why did this happen?
This past Sunday, June 12, 2016 will be remembered in the pages of our modern American history as the day where we learned and understood that in the tentacles of terror, we are all equal.
There is no way to understand how frustrating it is for a veteran. Seeing the sacrifices of your brothers and sisters in arms all being made in vain. My heart was broken. On Sunday afternoon I gathered my children around our flag pole in our yard and I had to explain why I had our flag flying at half-staff and the truth be told, so was my heart.
This is a moment of reflection and a moment of unification but also, a moment of vigilance and strength! Let’s not be deceived by our enemies! Let us not let them use our values and beliefs against us! Let’s stand strong together! As one America, the great and wonderful country that we are! Let us fight back, and show these radical Islamic terrorists that they’ve messed with the wrong country!
Our country, the Great United States of America was founded on freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of press, freedom of religion. Not one thought or one belief is better than another in this country, and when you think your freedoms are more important and infringe on my freedoms, that’s when things get “radicalized”. That’s when things get out of control and people get hurt. That’s when hate and intolerance build up in our hearts, and things like Sunday morning happen more frequently.
This is the land of the free, and the home of the brave. This country stands for freedom, this country stands for tolerance, this country was founded as a land where everyone can live together and believe what they want to believe and the freedom to do it in peace. Sunday happened because one person took advantage of our freedoms.
What he did was not what our forefathers had in mind when they wrote our constitution, what he did left our country submerged in sadness, pain and horror.
But we, as American’s won’t let this keep us down. No sir. Sunday, bloody Sunday, will make us stronger and bring us closer together. We will fight for our rights and our freedoms.
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| SPC Gonzales' flag at half-staff honoring the victims of Sunday's attack |
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