We, our children and grandchildren possess the fine particulate opportunity in this great nation to become the very one, the First Man Standing and a nation changed….
by Lonnie D. Story
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Sometimes I feel like I am caught in the middle. The middle of somewhere, but, I don’t know where that “somewhere” is. Over the years of my life, I have been a part of the television generation. You don’t see them or hear of them in common, but, we do exist. The television generation consists of those that were born during the “boom” of modern media.
I can still remember being seven years old and watching an Apollo launch of astronauts. It was a sight to see in all it’s glorious black and white live television. But what draws my mind now is the fact that we trusted it. We believed it. It was real. When those burners flared and the men in those bulky white suits and bubbles approached the craft with trepidation and courage, we knew it was real. They were the men of making first steps for a pre-pubescent country with enormous potential.
When I think of the word “bravery,” I often think of the T. V. image of our heroic actor, John Wayne. I haven’t looked into a dictionary for this but if one should ask for my own definition, I would say that bravery is the ability to face insurmountable odds with total and reckless disregard for one’s own safety. There are two types of sorrow. The sorrow that leads to regret, and the sorrow that leads to death. These are the sorrows of the last man standing. “Did I not do enough? Not try enough, not care enough?” All sorrows of regret.
“I could have made a difference. I could have spoke up. I could have made some kind of effort. I could have taken a stand no matter the cost.” These are the words of the sorrow that leads to death. The death of a soul. The death of life. The death of a spirit. The death of a nation. I do not want to be the last man standing.
In the old western movies of our society, we see the results of the last man standing. John Wayne was the premier example. Making that last stand for all that is good and right in our country, a true American patriot. I hurt for that in my heart, but, worse, I long for something else. I desire to see the first man standing.
I see the potential all around me. Dozens, hundreds, thousands of young men and women. Us, our children and the populace around us. All, each and every single one, the first man standing. Each one taking the ability to face insurmountable odds with total and reckless disregard for one’s own safety and making a statement. “No, we will not go silently into that still night.”
No. No to the pompous rulings of a few. No to the crushing fist that pummels blows to the face of servitude. No to the ruling parties. No to the norm. No, No, No! Instead of waiting until the last day. Instead of waiting to the last moment. Instead of being the last man standing, shouldn’t we try? Shouldn’t we try? Just maybe to be the First Man Standing? I will not and do not give away that hope. We, our children and grandchildren possess the fine particulate opportunity in this great nation to become the very one, the First Man Standing and a nation changed.
Mr. Lonnie D. Story, (email – sail44free@aol.com) is the author of “The Meeting of Anni Adams” and is working on “Without A Shot Fired: The Dustin Brim Story” Lonnie has just begun a new weekly column at www.populistamerica.com
