Thread by @vot3blue2021, Who could use a little hope today?In @BarackObama's memoir he writes about [...]

Who could use a little hope today?

In @BarackObama's memoir he writes about replying to the mail he received from his fellow Americans. He wonders what it was like for people to get a reply.

I got one of #obamasletters, this is what it was like for me.

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I voted for @barackobama from Iraq in 2008. I voted for him for a lot of reasons, but none more than his promises to draw down there. I did three tours there as a combat medic and saw the worst of all sides of that ill-advised and ill-managed war.

#obamasletters

In 2008, I saw then-candidate @BarackObama's speech accepting the DNC nomination while heading home on R&R leave and laying over in Leipzig, Germany. I was pretty stunned when he articulated what I learned as a combat medic. That: "The men and women who serve...

#obamasletters

...in our battlefields may be Democrats and Republicans and independents, but they have fought together and bled together and some died together under the same proud flag.

#obamasletters

...They have not served a red America or a blue America – they have served the United States of America."

People assume the military is a monolith of political conservatism. Especially never-served talking heads on far-right "news" networks.

#obamasletters

But when @BarackObama spoke those words, you could have heard a pin drop in that waiting area. NO ONE was sleeping, even thought the journey home for most of us took about 3-7 days and it was exhausting.

#obamasletters

When I got back down range, I helped those in my unit register to vote and vote absentee. R/D/i didn't matter. Though I encouraged them to vote for the candidate who was going to end 15-month deployments and unsustainable troop presence there (promises kept)

#obamasletters

I watched his victory speech at 7 AM as the sun rose over a stifling desert that I had a love/hate relationship with. And I had hope. When I got home from that tour, my third, I knew it was time to hang up my boots. Being a combat medic is a hard, hard job.

#obamasletters

As I ETSed from the Army I knew I wanted to keep serving those I served as a medic. I also began to see my fellow post 9/11 veterans struggling to access VA benefits even as I eased into the system.

So, I got to work getting my degrees to help them.

#obamasletters

Along the way I learned that VA's PTSD claim requirements were so onerous vets had to identify specific battles to prove PTSD stressors. A virtual impossibility for some, especially WWII/Vietnam vets., etc. VA systematically denied their claims for decades.

#obamasletters

In July 2010, @barackobama made it easier for veterans with PTSD to get the VA benefits and care they needed.

This immediately led to some of the bravest most honorable veterans I know, in severe crisis, getting VA benefits.

#obamasletters https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/weekly-address-president-obama-announces-changes-help-veterans-with-ptsd-receive-be

Weekly Address: President Obama Announces Changes to Help Veterans

https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/weekly-address-president-obama-announces-changes-help-veterans-with-ptsd-receive-be

So, I wrote a long letter to @barackobama explaining why I supported him and how grateful I was for the changes he'd implemented at VA. I explained the impact I was seeing them have in my community.

#obamasletters

About four months later I got a notice of a registered letter at the post office. I thought it was a bill. After 7 years in the Army and our own experiences with predatory lenders and bad debt, my family's budget was messy. I had forgotten I even sent the letter.

#obamasletters

I ignored two notices, but when the third came I finally went to the post office. I knew something was weird when I had to sign for the certified mail three times. Twice on paper and once on the credit card reader.

When I opened it, this is what was inside.

#obamasletters

It says, "Kenneth - thank you for your service, and your support. I couldn't be prouder. And while I believe we should revere the service of all our troops every day, I will consider additional ways we can mark the contributions of our 9/11 Generation.

#obamasletters

It was pretty awesome to get one of @barackobama's letters. I was amazed that he took the time to reply.

One group of people was completely unimpressed with my letter though, was my far-right friends and family in my dying central Massachusetts factory town.

#obamasletters

I'd noticed that no matter what I did, whether I served in the Army through three tours in combat, or went to college to help veterans, etc., I just would never be a "Patriot" in some people's eyes. And that sucked. Especially from my father.

#obamasletters

It was ironic that the same folk who cried #CancelCulture every chance they got, even back then, essentially tried to cancel my patriotism because I supported @barackobama. Especially when I backed up my support with legitimate veterans accomplishments like the EO

#obamasletters

For me, this one of #obamasletters was a step on the path towards me realizing that it wasn't my patriotism that was flawed, it was the far-right's image of a "Patriot" (usually found on a t-shirt or bumper sticker) that was flawed.

So, as my friends and family back home...

...remained convinced that I was the traitor in their midst, (the same folks recently cheered the #January6th insurrectionists wearing their "Patriot" t-shirts and violently assaulting police officers at the Capitol) I just learned to tune it out and get to work.

#obamasletters

I learned that real patriotism, actual patriotism, isn't on a t-shirt. Its found in an aid station where the letter beside your name doesn't matter. Real patriotism is found in simple, quiet, acts of public service. #patriotismispublicservice

#obamasletters

Acts of public service like @barackobama taking the time, even after a busy day, to write letters to the people who took the time to write to him. Not expecting reward, just doing the somber and sincere work of public service.

#obamasletters

You can see the same kind of public service in leaders like @POTUS @VP or @HillaryClinton. When the far-right tries to cancel their patriotism, and says deplorable things about them, they just get to work. Because #publicserviceispatriotism.

One of #obamasletters taught me that.

I am overwhelmed by the response to this thread. The support will certainly be fuel for my return to work tomorrow helping our veterans and their dependents get the benefits they've earned with their service.

Thank y'all so much.

#patriotismispublicservice

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