Often, when we least expect it, responsibility falls to us. The future is in our hands. Standing beside the rubble of the Pentagon after 9-11, my ability to process that event’s historical significance – 24 years ago – was handicapped by emotion. Where I worked, but was not that day, seven friends died. Ironically, when chips down, we get stronger. Why?
Why, when everything you love and hope on, everything you count on being unbreakable and strong is broken, do we not give up? Why when a hurricane hits, taking everything, do people not quit?
Why, in World War II, when the Japanese destroyed Pearl Harbor, when we had one division and Germany had 60 battle-hardened divisions, did we not stop? What propelled us to go forward, to imagine a world better, even in those dark hours? How did we pivot to replace the Twin Towers?
Go back in history, and think with me about this, because it matters – It does to us personally, to our nation now, and to Maine, where Democrats have governed and destroyed so much of what the People have long held inviolate, our kids, work ethic, safety, prosperity, independence, and lives.
George Washington – five months after the Declaration of Independence was signed – nearly lost the Revolutionary War in November 1776. Our top defense was Manhattan’s Fort Washington. The British overran it, setting up what could have been panic for Washington. He stayed calm.
He wrote simply: “This is a most unfortunate affair and has given me great mortification, as we have lost not only two thousand men that were there, but a good deal of artillery and some of the best arms we had …” Did he flinch? No. In fact, they had to retrieve him from charging the British.
What would happen? Saved by a miraculous retreat, divine intervention, his courage was fortified. Valley Forge, Trenton, Princeton, Yorktown – and then they defeated the world’s largest empire.
What about other unlikely victories in history – examples for all of us – from our own past? While these were domestic and foreign wars, they illustrate American grit in grim times, how to rally.
Like Henry the 5th at Agincourt, Americans – and Mainers – put in a position where they should be demoralized often rally and reverse history, overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds.
On the battlefield, this has been a trait that decided American and world history, as much as affecting state histories, including Maine’s.
Andrew Jackson held off the British in 1815, Lincoln’s conviction held off Lee at Antietam in 1862 (giving Lincoln the confidence to sign the Emancipation Proclamation), Gettysburg in 1863, San Juan Hill in 1898, Belleau Wood in 1918 (WWI), Midway in 1942, Normandy, the Bulge in 1944, Inchon in 1950.
This list goes on, examples of what it means to rally under pressure. What happened in each place was that, despite reasons to quit, give up the larger purpose, forfeit vision and fold, Americans did not. In Maine, iconically, Chamberlain at Little Roundtop, Gettysburg, did not. He was all courage.
Some will say, slow down, worry less, throw in the cards, or do not elevate the ideological battle in Maine – for Maine’s future, either leftist or traditional values, hard work, parental rights, low taxes, less government, safe towns to such a plane. Do not think the battle matters so much.
Is that so? Is it true that we can lose or give up or stand down facing evils like danger to our children, moral depravity, illegality, drug trafficking, criminal abuse, overspending, over-taxation, mandates and disinterest in our children – a complete loss of compass and compassion – and still survive?
Some will say yes, worry less. I am not among them, as I have seen – through the lens of history, global appeasement, national disorientation, and state dominance – what happens when we fold.
Edmund Burke famously observed, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” We cannot be those people, on international, national, or state stages. It is on us.
Standing beside the rubble of the Pentagon on 9-11 on active duty, about to spend months rebuilding the Navy’s Intelligence resources, my mind went to a thousand things. Like our whole nation, I was in shock, but like all of us, I also grew stronger in the wake of that day.
The same sentiment applies to challenges closer to home, today in Maine. When the chips are down, when what should be right is wrong, do not give up. In Maine, the chips are now down, a progressive wave rolling in upon us, and leftist ideology trying to muzzle individual liberties. But there is nothing inevitable about that darkness – The future is literally in our hands.
Robert Charles is a former Assistant Secretary of State under Colin Powell, former Reagan and Bush 41 White House staffer, Maine attorney, ten-year naval intelligence officer (USNR), and 25-year businessman. He wrote “Narcotics and Terrorism” (2003), “Eagles and Evergreens” (North Country Press, 2018), and “Cherish America: Stories of Courage, Character, and Kindness” (Tower Publishing, 2024). He is National Spokesman for AMAC. Today, he is running to be Maine’s next Governor. BobbyforMaine.com
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