Good Monday morning, everyone! I returned home late Saturday evening from another memorable trip to the Cotentin Peninsula of Normandy, France. It will never stop being emotional to stand upon hallowed and sacred ground where men from America, the UK, Canada, France, the Netherlands, Poland, and Belgium came together to liberate a continent from tyranny. This year, I had the blessed opportunity to escort 25 college students, courtesy of Young America’s Foundation. They were blown away.
The pictures you see are of me on “Bloody Omaha” Beach, Pont du Hoc, and in a C-47 aircraft that flew 81 years ago. I was about to jump into St. Martin de Varreville, where men of the 101st Airborne Division had done eight decades ago. It is beyond surreal to sit on those aircraft and jump from 1300 ft, they jumped in at 500 ft, or less, in the dark with the enemy firing upon them.
So, as I pondered what to say in this missive, I could easily talk about runoff elections and such. I decided to share the two most impactful words from the movie Saving Private Ryan. As Tom Hanks’ character, Army Ranger Captain Miller is dying, he whispers two words to Matt Damon’s character, Private Ryan of the 101st Airborne Division: “Earn This.” The words are resounding, and prescient to each of us in America today. What those words meant was for Ryan to earn the sacrifice of those few men who had traversed enemy territory to find him and get him back home. As you may recall, the older Ryan, standing before CPT. Miller’s grave at the American Military Cemetery turns to his wife and begs her to tell him that he has led a good life; that he has been a good man.
So, here it was on June 6, 2025, as I was visiting Utah Beach, in America, illegal immigrants took to our streets in Los Angeles in full revolt against our nation. Worse, American elected officials aligned themselves with criminal illegal immigrants in our country. I must ask, is that how we define “Earn This” in our modern American society? I do not think the men who scaled the 200-foot cliffs of Pont du Hoc under enemy fire did so just to allow a foreign invasion of their country eight decades later. I do not believe that the Bedford Boys of the 29th Infantry Division gave their lives so that we would see an uprising of those illegally in our country. By all accounts of the progressive socialist leftists, this is an insurrection by foreign entities.
They hit the beaches and dropped from aircraft 81 years ago just to see a different enemy walk, unopposed into our Republic? And worse, to have a political ideology that supports the undermining of the safety and security of our nation?
Those men 81 years ago sacrificed not in the interest of lobbyists or self-conceited and corrupt elected officials. They did so because they believed in a simple ideal, concept, individual freedom. I am quite aware of those who harbor disdain towards me, but I have always lived a life based upon a simple maxim, “Never allow irrelevant people to cause you consternation.” How do I define “irrelevant people?” It’s simple: those who cannot look in the mirror and principally respond to the challenge of “Earn This.” Political party has little meaning for me, but it is rather about one’s commitment to the fundamental principles and values for which many men and women have willingly sacrificed to preserve and protect.
Eighty-one years ago our men stormed Normandy fighting against the tyranny of Nazism, which is short for National Socialism. Today in America, we have those who openly embrace socialism as an economic model and regard the cultural Marxist ideal of DEI as a viable societal construct. These are some of those who do not understand what “Earn This” means. We have those who just fail to comprehend that gross government spending is not a path forward for our nation. The most important responsibility of the government, at all levels, is to provide for our common defense, meaning our security, national and domestic. Yet, what is troubling is that we have a voting electorate that fails to “Earn This” by electing these charlatans who have wrought havoc upon our Constitutional Republic, and its national sovereignty. Do not forget that, even here in Texas, we are facing an illegal immigration scourge. Just ask the family of US Air Force Academy Cadet Ava Moore, killed by an illegal immigrant on Lake Grapevine over Memorial Day weekend.
So, going forward, how would you respond to the challenge Captain Miller issued, “Earn This?” I can make a pretty interesting bipartisan list of individuals who, in my assessment, have failed to do so. Perhaps the remedy would be to have more Americans visit Normandy, or any battlefield, and understand what Lincoln meant when he coined the phrase, “the last full measure of devotion.” I am reminded of the quote by G. Michael Hopf, “Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.”
The men of Operation Overlord, D-Day were strong men, born of the Depression era. They fought and created good times. Sadly, we have entered into a unique period where those good times have created weak men. God bless you women, but right now, America is in need of men who will answer the challenge of “Earn This.”
Steadfast and Loyal.
This message was published at Allen West’s Substack
The views expressed in CCNS member articles are not necessarily the views or positions of the entire CCNS. They are the views of the authors, who are members of the CCNS.
