God, Honor, and Country, Where Do We Really Stand Today?

IS THIS THE VISION OUR FOREFATHERS HAD FOR THIS COUNTRY AND SO MANY HAVE PAID THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE FOR???????

When I grew up, my parents instilled a strong set of values in each of us.  These values were God, Honor and Country.  We were raised to respect our elders, always speak the truth and a very strong sense of patriotism.  Mainers were respected for their common sense, voting their hearts and not party lines and always putting what was best for Maine and the nation first.

I grew up believing in JFK’s immortal words “Ask NOT what your country can do for you; but what you can do for your country.”  These ideals led me to serving forty years of dedicated service first in the Army and then as a Department of Defense civilian.  I always believed I was making a difference around the world by spreading democracy and our way of life to others.  Naïve maybe, but I strongly believe America is the best country in the world and it was important to defend the rights of those who could not defend themselves.

After retiring, I returned to Lisbon and was in for a rude awakening.  While “true” Americans, who believe as I do, are fighting and dying all over the world; there are individuals who are destroying everything I grew up believing in.  Instead of protecting our country while true Americans are away doing their job, these individuals are putting their agenda ahead of our community, Maine and this great nation.  

 First, took away our right to pray in school, removed “In God We Trust” and are robbing the American people blind.  The final blow is when the votes of our dedicated service members serving overseas ballots are not counted in our Presidential election because of a SNAFU created by the government.  Our service members did their civic duty on time and should have their votes counted regardless of when the ballots were received.  Our military and civilian personnel serving this nation overseas deserve to have their votes counted.

Our forefathers and many true Americans made the ultimate sacrifice in order to protect our way of life.  A way of life where no matter where you are from or what your culture is; you can live in peace and worship as you please in the safety of your own home.  This country is a melting pot of people living together.  At one point, everyone learned English because they were proud to be Americans and wanted to make this a better country.   

This is no longer true, instead we have everyone doing their own thing and instead of making this a stronger nation, they are tearing it apart.  We have lost the right to know what our government, at all levels, are doing in our name.  We are no longer the strongest nation in the world because we have lost common sense, integrity, honesty and strong leadership.  You can see this every day in Lisbon.  Our town council and town manager hide tax dollars from us, use tax dollars for other things they were not designed for and are totally deceitful.  Our Chief of Police intentionally lies to the people in order to increase his empire and nothing is done about it.

But what is even more disgraceful to me is this community is made up of many veterans who have fought for the same beliefs I did and now have gone into hiding.  Instead of trying to correct these injustices; the citizens of Lisbon are afraid to stand up and restore this community to the state we all remember and loved about Lisbon.  My father always told me “Concentrate on ONLY the things you can change because if you cannot change it then you are wasting your time.”  I believe we can change this town council and town government by speaking out against the injustices being done to our taxpayers and our neighbors.  I hope in 2013, the people of Lisbon will get off their couches and grow a backbone.

Let’s take back our community and restore it to a “Great Place to Live and Raise a Family”.

Larry Fillmore

Concerned Citizen