To the SCOPE Membership,

Former President Obama once said, "Elections have consequences." Few statements have proven more enduring. Every election shapes the direction of our nation, and for those on the losing side, the consequences can be difficult to accept.

The effects of elections are evident in the policies that follow. After taking office in 2021, President Biden reversed several immigration policies and oversaw a significant increase in illegal border crossings. Millions of migrants entered the United States during his administration, placing substantial strains on border security and immigration enforcement. Critics argue that these policies also contributed to tragic crimes committed by some individuals who entered the country illegally, resulting in the deaths of American citizens. For many Americans, these outcomes underscore the lasting consequences that elections can have on public policy and public safety.

In the 2022 New York gubernatorial election, Lee Zeldin lost by just 378,000 votes. Considering the size of New York's gun-owning population, that margin was far from insurmountable.

New York is estimated to have between 4.5-and-5-million-gun owners. Yet, by some estimates, only about 1.2 million of them voted in the 2022 gubernatorial election. If more gun owners had participated in the electoral process, the outcome of the election could have been very different.

The lesson is clear: elections are often decided not only by those who vote, but by those who choose to stay home.

Many New Yorkers believe Governor Hochul's administration has taken the state in the wrong direction. They point to concerns over public safety, affordability, taxes, and the overall quality of life, not to mention 2A issues, as evidence that New York needs new leadership. Some believe that another four years under Governor Hochul would further accelerate the state's decline.

With that in mind, SCOPE has launched a comprehensive Get Out the Vote (GOTV) initiative leading up to the November 3, 2026, election. The goal of this effort is simple: encourage and mobilize eligible voters and gun owners that don't vote to participate in the election and ensure their voices are heard.  To that end, SCOPE added a staff position called Marketing and Communication director to the SCOPE Corporation.  Currently Steve Leonard is the SCOPE Marketing and Communication Director leading the GOTV initiative.  It is not determined if that position will exist after the November 3 election.

Let me explain how the GOTV initiative will work.

The GOTV initiative consists of two key components. The first is the development of a comprehensive social media strategy.

Several months ago, SCOPE invited members to volunteer their expertise in areas such as social media, graphic design, website development, content creation, and other digital communications. Unfortunately, no volunteers with the necessary skills came forward.

Lacking the necessary support, SCOPE decided to contract with Multimedia Services, a professional communications firm, to develop and implement a comprehensive social media campaign. This approach ensures that the organization will have the professional resources needed to effectively communicate with voters and maximize the impact of the GOTV effort.  The social media campaign will focus on three major platforms: Facebook, Instagram, and X. SCOPE volunteers will develop the campaign's content, including messages, topics, and supporting information. That content will then be provided to the contracted communications firm, which will professionally design, format, and produce the material for publication across all three platforms.

SCOPE is actively coordinating with other New York State Second Amendment organizations to determine their interest in participating in this initiative. The objective is to build a broad coalition that can distribute the campaign's content packages to the largest possible audience, maximizing both the reach and effectiveness of the Get Out the Vote effort. 

The second component of the initiative is the development of a printed outreach package consisting of a professionally designed poster and a tri-fold brochure highlighting key issues, including Second Amendment rights. The plan is for SCOPE County Chapters to distribute these materials to selected Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs), gun clubs, sportsmen's federations, and other organizations throughout their counties.

The number of outreach packages that can be produced and distributed will ultimately depend on available funding. Simply put, the greater the financial support for this initiative, the more materials SCOPE can place into the hands of organizations and voters across New York State.

The timeline for content packages distributed to county chapters is the month of July. 

Adequate funding is essential to the success of the Get Out the Vote (GOTV) initiative. Thanks to financial support from the SCOPE Corporation and generous contributions from several SCOPE Chapters, the initial phase of the campaign is now underway.

As the initiative expands and reaches more voters across New York State, additional funding may be needed to maximize its effectiveness. Every additional dollar invested will help extend the campaign's reach and increase the number of voters who receive our message.

The success of this initiative will depend largely on the efforts of each SCOPE County Chapter. Once the outreach materials have been produced, each chapter will identify the Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs), gun clubs, sportsmen's federations, and other organizations within its county where the content packages will have the greatest impact. By strategically targeting locations with the highest potential to reach engaged voters, each chapter can maximize the effectiveness of the GOTV campaign and make the best use of available resources.

I respectfully ask every SCOPE member to volunteer their time to assist their County Chapter Chair when the time comes to distribute the outreach materials. The success of this initiative will depend on the dedication and participation of our members. By working together, we can ensure these materials reach as many voters as possible and maximize the impact of our Get Out the Vote effort.

Additionally, as we enter a busy fundraising season that includes county fairs, weekend festivals, and the SCOPE banquet, it is important to maintain strong momentum in support of the GOTV initiative. Continued fundraising during this period will be essential to ensuring the program has the resources needed to expand its reach and effectiveness.

Finally, I want to extend my sincere thanks for your continued support of SCOPE and your commitment to Second Amendment advocacy.

With All Honor and Respect,

John

The Greatest Startup in History  by Tom Reynolds

Polls show that a number of Americans (mostly Democrats) are not proud of their country.  These people look for ways to put America down by finding every fault they can surface. 

In their latest newsletter, ‘Merrill’ (Bank of America) took offense at that.  It’s not 2A but it is worth reading as it highlights things that the naysayers usually omit and renews our sense of pride and optimism, that is so often missing from those that believe socialism and communism are the wave of the future.  Important parts are reproduced below.

On July 4, 1776, a group of risk-takers, entrepreneurs and revolutionaries launched what would become the greatest startup in history: The United States of America. It was an audacious venture.

The founders were attempting to build a new nation in defiance of the most powerful empire on earth. They possessed no established government, no central bank, no standing army capable of defeating Britain, no industrial base, and no guarantee that the 13 colonies would remain united. What could possibly go wrong? The odds, to say the least, were terrible.

Yet they proceeded anyway—and 250 years later, the gamble has produced results beyond anything the Founders could have imagined. The U.S. today is home to the world's largest economy, deepest capital markets, most innovative companies, leading universities, and most dynamic entrepreneurial culture. Its citizens have generated breakthroughs that transformed transportation, communications, medicine, computing, energy and countless other industries. The startup launched in Philadelphia has become the most powerful economic enterprise in human history.

And to this day, we continue to carry the DNA of our founders—optimism, imagination, relentless energy and curiosity, and fearlessness in the face of failure or uncertainty.

Ten Reasons to Celebrate: As America approaches its 250th birthday, pessimism has become something of a national pastime. Political polarization, geopolitical tensions, rising debt and questions over America’s future dominate the headlines. Yes, America has flaws, but, at 250 years old, the country still possesses a unique combination of advantages that no other nation can fully replicate.

First, no economy in the world is as large, diverse and wealthy as the U.S.

Second, geography remains America’s superpower…Protected by two vast oceans and bordered by friendly neighbors.

Third, no major economy reinvests itself as relentlessly as the U.S.

Fourth, the U.S. remains a magnet for foreign capital.

Fifth, America remains the home to the world’s top global brands. 

Sixth, America’s hard power remains unmatched…Economic strength ultimately rests upon security, and, by this metric, the U.S. maintains the world’s most capable military force.

Seventh, America remains the world’s technology leader.

Eighth, the top-ranked universities in the world are in the U.S.

Ninth, the U.S. dollar remains the cornerstone of the global financial system...the greenback remains the world’s dominant reserve currency, the primary medium of global trade and finance, and the ultimate safe-haven asset during periods of crisis.

Finally, America remains one of the world’s most competitive economies.

Can anyone name a socialist / communist nation that can begin to compare?

2A – Important and threatened  by Tom Reynolds

SCOPE is working on a major Get-Out-The Vote effort, of which you will be hearing a lot about, very soon.  We don’t want to play ‘ready, fire, aim’ so we are researching where to put our efforts, time and money.

A new poll by the Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research offers some interesting insights – but it depends on how you read it.   

Gun rights are under a: 

Major Threat            21% (Dem)      40% (Rep)       34% (Ind)
Minor Threat            36% (Dem)      41% (Rep)       35% (Ind)
No Threat                42% (Dem)      19% (Rep)        28% (Ind)

Very                           22%
Somewhat                24%
Not Very                   11%
Not at all                     7%  

Do Democrats view 2A gun rights as somewhat threatened (21% + 36%) – OR - not really threatened (36% + 42%.)  Depends on how you want to read it.  The same logic can be applied to the other political categories.

But there is some guidance from this poll. 

If you are a SCOPE member, you know that our 2A rights are under a major threat from the leadership of the Democrat party; socialist and communist movements do not play well with civilian gun rights.  But according to the poll, amongst Republicans (40%) and Independents (34%) just a little more than a third of them perceive 2A as being under a major threat. 

There are two conclusions that we have reached:

we must undertake a major educational effort to reach almost two-thirds of Republicans and Independents that do not see the enormity of the threat to their 2A rights;

on the good side, we have a target rich environment that – if they can be convinced of the threat and motivated – could add hundreds of thousands of votes in favor of 2A gun rights.

Those votes could have swung past elections and could easily swing this November’s elections.  See my E-mail of May 15th that shows the Republicans could have won the governorship in both 2022 and 2014, if gun owners had shown up:  S.C.O.P.E. Shooters Committee On Political Education - You be the Jury by Tom Reynolds             

And there is definitely some other good news in that polling.  In spite of the majority not believing that their 2A rights are under a major threat, 81% do believe our 2A rights are important, at varying levels.   

Across the entire political spectrum, just how important are 2A rights?

Extremely                 35%

All we have to do is convince the non-voters in the 81% that their 2A rights are so threatened that it’s time to step up to the voting booth! 

That’s all?

And, as I wrote earlier, you will soon be hearing about how SCOPE is trying to accomplish that.

Balkanizing America  by Tom Reynolds

Yugoslavia existed for over 70 years.  In 1991, the country started breaking down into independent units and civil wars ensued, which finally ended with six independent states.  Wars - not war - since each independent state fought its own wars.  During the wars, words like genocide, ethnic cleansing and mass starvation were often used and an estimated 250,000 people died. 

What does that have to do with SCOPE and the coming election?

Yugoslavia broke apart for ethnic, religious and historical reasons, which are now called identity politics.  Think of the words being used today: racist, white privilege, white supremacy, systemic racism, capitalists, or any hyphenated Americans.  These words divide us into groups that one of the other groups can hate - or at least blame for whatever went wrong in someone’s life.

There have always been issues in America, but our strength has been moving forward; moving beyond those issues.  One reason for Yugoslavia’s divisions was a battle fought 600 years ago.  In America, does anyone hate “Indians” because of Custer’s Last Stand, 144 years ago?  The Japanese and Germans committed horrendous atrocities during World War II but they are now our allies.  Irish, Italians and Chinese all were discriminated against but are now mainstream Americans.  (That’s right, Americans!  Not hyphenated Americans, just plain Americans.)  It’s been over two generations since the civil rights activities of the 1950’s and 1960’s brought change and produced programs such as Affirmative Action which discriminated in favor of blacks.  The pre-China Virus economy included record low unemployment for almost every “identity politics” group.

Progressives, in order to gain power, are trying to split America apart through identity politics.  In essence, to Balkanize us.  There can be no doubt that their goal is to create a new Yugoslavia here and then break up the United States.  Remember, Barack Obama promised to fundamentally transform the U.S.A.  

There are many issues to consider when casting your ballot this November.  Certainly the 2nd Amendment and preserving our Constitution are important.  But we must also keep in mind that we are under attack on many fronts.  Do candidates mindlessly repeat whatever is in fashion about identity politics in order to balkanize us?  Those are not people operating in the best interests of the America we love and will defend.

2020 Revisited  by Tom Reynolds

The following are excerpts from my Email of September, 2020.  Not much has changed.

Proposed laws must be passed by both houses of the NY State legislature: the Senate and the Assembly.  Over the past thirty years, the Assembly has been dominated by liberal New York City Democrats while the Senate was usually held by Republicans from Upstate and Long Island.  The Senate acted as a buffer to stop most extreme liberal, anti-gun laws from being enacted.  It wasn’t perfect, but it was the only NY government body that was on the side of the 2nd Amendment – most of the time.  The Republican Senators played politics like a goalie; they stopped most, but not all shots, (think SAFE Act), and they never went on offense. 

Prior to the 2018 election, the Republicans held the majority by 32 to 31.  In November 2018’s election, Republicans decisively lost control of the Senate; Democrats defeated five Republican incumbents and won three seats where the Republican incumbent didn’t run.  Later, nine other sitting Republicans announced their retirement.  Over half of the Republican “goalies” from 2018 will be gone in 2021

What happened in 2018?

2016 was a presidential election year and, historically, voter turnout is much greater than two years later, in what is called an “off year election”.   In NY, the governorship is on the ballot in “off year elections”.  NY Senate seats are on the ballot every two years so they are contested in both presidential election years and off years.

Looking just at the total votes for all New York Senators, in 2018 there were 1,013,000 fewer ballots cast than in 2016; fewer votes are expected in an “off year election”. The Democrats cast 263,000 fewer ballots in 2018 than in 2016, while Republicans cast 713,000 fewer ballots in 2018.  In four of the districts that turned from Republican to Democrat in 2018, the Democrats got more votes in 2018 than 2016.

There are three probable causes of this:  First, some might see this as a reaction to President Trump, good or bad.  (But he wasn’t on the ballot).  Second, Republicans were uninspired by the non performing “goalies” in the Senate and registered their disgust by not voting.  (Talk about self-defeating!)  Third, Democrats know their votes count in NY while many Republicans believe their vote doesn’t count.  Without a presidential election to bring them out, Republicans sat at home while Democrats knew they could elect a governor if they just showed up.  (75% of life is just showing up. Republicans didn’t and their political influence is just barely alive in New York.)

When voting for a state senator, keep in mind that you are also voting for the most powerful person in the Senate, the Majority Leader, which may be more important than your local candidate.  Your vote helps create a majority for your candidate’s party and whichever party has the majority elects a leader from its ranks.  That person has broad powers over everything that happens in the Senate.  The minority party has little (if any) influence.

There can be no doubt that the leadership of the New York Democratic Party is anti 2nd Amendment and the Republican Party is the only thing that can stop them - if they can regain control of the Senate in the 2020 elections and if they are finally motivated to action once in office.  There is no possibility of gaining control of the Assembly.

The American Conservative Union Foundation rated NY legislators on conservative issues, which would include gun control.  It puts the most radical left legislators in a class called, Coalition of the Radical Left.  Nearly every member of the Democrat leadership qualified for inclusion, including the Majority Leader / Speaker and their top two deputies in each house.

Republicans must make an extra effort to turn out and vote if they want to stop NY City from steamrolling over Upstate NY. Those that are concerned about the heavily Democrat edge in NY City, should remember that in legislative races, not one vote in New York City is transferable to their district.   Legislative seats are truly a local issue.

What’s the answer to all this?  Just show up and vote.  Ask yourself which party will protect your rights?  The down ballot seats are important.  These are the people who will either stop or allow anti-gun legislation to pass.  These are the mayors and sheriffs that will make decisions when the “peaceful protesters” come to your neighborhood to steal, burn and pillage.  These are the councilpersons who will vote on defunding your police.  If you live Upstate, it’s vital to protect yourself against the tyranny of New York City's far left liberals.

Your future is in your hands.

HR 9298 - The SHOTs Act  by Tom Reynolds

The Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) was enacted in 2005. The law prohibits frivolous lawsuits against manufacturers of firearms, ammunition and component parts for the unlawful misuse of legally-made and sold products. The law counteracted politically-motivated efforts that were designed to bankrupt the firearm and ammunition industry by running up legal fees to defend against lawsuits that have no merit.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently reinforced this when it rejected the $10 billion claim against U.S. firearm manufacturers for the criminal violence caused by narco-terrorists in Mexico.  (Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc., et al v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos)

Unfortunately, the law and Supreme Court rulings do no deter the anti-gun left.  For example: if there were a drive-by shooting from a Ford, using a Colt, would Ford be liable?   But under   HR9298  “reasonable” liability” standards the anti-gun left would like to hold Colt liable.

So, U.S. Representative Derek Schmidt (R-Kansas) has introduced H.R. 9298, the Stopping Harmful and Outrageous Torts (SHOT) Act.  It has a companion bill in the House, S. 4775.  It would protect against frivolous public nuisance lawsuits that have been allowed by 11 states* under S. 4775 “reasonable” liability” standards.

Under the SHOT Act, law-abiding manufacturers and retailers of firearms, ammunition and component parts would not be blamed for products that function as designed and would not be liable for “the harm caused by those who criminally or unlawfully misuse” their products

We can hope that S.4775 and H.R.9298 are quickly passed and signed by the President.  The anti-gun left would like nothing more than to neuter 2A by driving gun manufacturers out of business.

* California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Washington and Virginia.

The Current Playbook Is Old News by Tom Reynolds

This is a reprint of an Email I sent in August 2020

Is it difficult to comprehend what is happening and why it is happening?  Uri Bezmenov may help.  He was a KGB defector who was amazingly prophetic in describing the current playbook during a 1984 interview. 

Demoralize the nation by undermining its values; do away with moral values.  Students taught by leftist disciples are indoctrinated into beliefs contrary to American values.  This will change a person’s and eventually society’s perception of reality to the extent that they are unable to reach sensible conclusions in spite of information to the contrary.  (If one sees riots, arson and looting as “peaceful protests”, that would seem to qualify as a refusal to believe truths in spite of evidence to the contrary.)  

Destabilization is the decline in society by destabilizing and subverting the economy, foreign relations, defense and social values.    (Obama “apologized for American foreign relations and defense activities.  The free market economy - Capitalism - is condemned even though it created a huge middle class with tremendous benefits.  Hollywood glorifies activities that were previously condemned and constantly paints American values as evil.) 

Crisis builds on the first two building blocks in order to bring about violent change in the power structure.  (Giving in to terrorist activities and even identifying with the terrorists by kneeling shifts power to those same terrorists. Bring Capitalism down through government closings related to the China Virus and replace Capitalism with “free stuff”.)

New Normal is the cynical way of describing what happens after the crisis.  A world government under a benevolent dictator will solve the crisis.  Big brother giving away “free stuff” subverts a free market economy and transfers more power to the government, which makes people more dependent upon it.  (2026 update: Mamdani in NYC.)   

Intellectuals, journalists and educators are led to believe that they will be the leaders in this new order but they never achieve that goal.  History has shown that, under communism, these people end up as prisoners instead of powerful.  They are, as Lenin put it, “Useful idiots”.  Bezmenov gives specific examples of this purge of the left in Cambodia, Vietnam, Hitler’s Germany, USSR and Poland.  (But those that do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it.  Unfortunately, this history is not taught very much in our current politically correct academic circles.)

Bezmenov, who was a soviet defector, pointed out that under a one world government, there is nowhere left to defect to, unlike today where people defect to the United States and rarely from it.

Ronald Reagan warned that freedom is only one generation away from extinction and also warned against blaming society for the acts of one individual.  (The latter would seem to cover the George Floyd reaction.)  We cannot let our weariness at the efforts of the left allow us to be the generation that lost our freedom.  We must react with vigor and determination.  And the best way to do it is to register and vote.

Unmotivated Voters  by Tom Rood

Why is the 2026 mid-term election important? For starters, every House of Representatives seat in Washington and every seat in the NY State Legislature is up for re-election. The party in power tries to hold and gain more seats while the party out of power turns heaven and hell over to flip enough seats to regain power. This is going on now and will intensify right up to November 3rd.

In a mid-term election it’s easier to flip seats; if you can get just a few more voters to the polls you can win. Ask AOC.

Why is this possible? Historically, in Mid-Term elections in New York State, only about 29% to 42% of registered voters turn out. That means thousands stay home while their missing vote is, in effect, an extra vote for the opposing side.

Even in presidential election years we see vast numbers of registered voters staying home. The historical NYS voting participation rate averages from 53.5% in 2012 to 61.1% in 2020.

As an interesting side note, in 2020 during the Biden- Trump election, there were 20.3% of the total votes cast as mail-ins. In 2022 that dropped to just 6.5%. Makes you wonder how many votes might have been voter fraud in Biden’s win?

For either party, it’s a glorious day when a hand-full of new voter registration forms are turned in and it’s also a glorious event for America. But there is a missing point, that I have tried unsuccessfully to alert people to, on this issue. While we are out trying to recruit a few who never registered to vote, there are tens of thousands who are registered and never vote or rarely vote. Those are the ones we need to reach.

The key is motivation. We cannot motivate people; we must find a way to get people to motivate themselves. We can do this with information. I cannot think of any other way.

For instance, the usual word we hear is: “My vote won’t count.” But the last Village of Penn Yan Mayoral contest was decided by just a couple of votes. I know of a NY Legislature seat that was decided by 6 votes. Another race wound up being decided by a coin toss in the Board of Elections office. We do not know which races will be close. And for Heaven’s sake, never trust pollsters or news media or social media when deciding whether to vote or stay home.

This year, as never before, we need every gun owner to vote. Nationally, I read that 31% to 32% of Americans own at least one gun. I am sure that low percentage has to do with inner city people not owning a gun and pulling the average down. At the same time, it is reported that 42% to 44% of Americans live in a household that has at least one gun.

Gun rights and even hunting and fishing rights (Oregon) are on the line. I can’t remember all the many many many anti-gun bills that are floating around Albany just waiting to get out of committee and to the legislature floor and then to the Governor’s desk. Some of them are real doozies.  Check out SCOPE’s ‘10 Most egregious.’

The bottom line: how do we get people to vote who, for whatever reason, decided to stay home?

The only way you can protect your lifestyle is to vote. The more of our people we can get to the polls the more our legislators in Albany might start listening to us; when their job is on the line they listen. Talk it up to your family, friends and co-workers about the importance of getting out to vote.  It isn’t about party-lines, it’s about your rights and what you want for your family. Sitting on the sidelines allows those who want to control your future to remain in elected office. Who do you want to represent you?  Keep informed so you know who to vote for; who best works for you and your ideals.

Don’t Let Your Wife Get Pregnant in New Jersey  by Tom Reynolds

2nd Amendment organizations like SCOPE have to oppose many proposed laws simply because we know that, in deep blue states like New York, these laws will be abused by the Democrat establishment.  

And unfortunately, many gun owners are not motivated to taking action - such as voting - because, “They’re not coming for my guns.”  Oh yeah!  It can happen for reasons you might never have considered. 

The following is an example that relates to both issues, from our deep blue neighbor to the south, New Jersey.

Elsid Aliaj’s wife was involuntarily admitted to a Medical Center for a mental health evaluation (in what turned out to be a language-related misunderstanding, resulting in her discharge with a diagnosis of “Adjustment Disorder with depressed mood Seven weeks pregnant.”)

As a result, on April 17, 2025, the Fort Lee Police Department confiscated Aliaj’s firearms, ammunition, and related accessories.  

Through November 2025, authorities were unwilling to return Aliaj’s firearms, “even though Aliaj is not under any legal, mental, or physical disability that would disqualify him from exercising his fundamental right to keep and bear arms.”

 So, Aliaj filed what is the ‘original lawsuit’ in that November.

The lawsuit got some publicity and additional individuals, including new plaintiffs Martin Hroncich and Luis Rene De La Cruz emerged. Each had a similar story: their rights under the Second Amendment were taken from them purely as the result of concerns Bergen County officials had about loved ones of theirs.

On June 1, 2026, the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and New Jersey Firearms Owners Syndicate expanded the lawsuit and an amended complaint, which included additional plaintiffs Hroncich and De La Cruz, was filed in the U.S. District Court.  Defendants are the Bergen County Prosecutor’s office, Prosecutor Mark Musella, the Borough of Fort Lee, the Borough of Paramus, and the Township of Rochelle Park.

SAF Senior Director of Legal Operations Bill Sack, in a SAF release announcing the expanded case said: “Bergen County’s very clear policy is: If you live with a prohibited person, or even someone suspected of being prohibited, your rights can be taken away…This took the form of permit denials and revocations, and outright gun confiscations. What we learned after filing this case on behalf of Mr. Aliaj is that the constitutional abuse he suffered was all too common in Bergen County.”

Over a year later, Aliaj still does has not had his guns or his Constitutional rights returned to him.  Mr. Alia probably never conceived of the idea that his wife’s conception would cost him his guns.

Important Dates  by Tom Reynolds

History teaches us about the Battle of Gettysburg, on July 1st through 3rd in 1863; it’s called the turning point of the Civil War.  But lost in the focus on Gettysburg was General Grant’s victory on July 4th 1863 in the Battle of Vicksburg.  Lincoln called it “the key to the war.”  That victory captured control of the Mississippi river and permanently split the Confederacy.

If there were to be a holiday honoring those who fought in the Civil War, July 3rd and 4th would be appropriate to honor those battles.

Today, June 6th, the focus will be, appropriately, on D Day; the beginning of the liberation of Europe from Hitler’s control in World War 2.  But exactly two years earlier, a battle that is called “the turning point of the war in the Pacific” was fought.

From June 4th through 6th, 1942 - with the major action on the 4th - the United States defeated Japan in the Battle of Midway.  It stopped the Japanese string of victories and their brutal expansion in the Pacific.

Both Germany and Japan were guilty of atrocities in the War and had they won, there would have been mass genocides committed.  But the United States stopped them (with the help of allies on D Day) and civilization was saved.

2,501 Americans lost their lives in the D Day invasion.  307 men lost their lives at Midway.

If there were to be a holiday honoring the those who fought in World War 2, June 5th would be appropriate.  Unlike D Day, which was fought on land, Midway was fought over 16,000 feet of water, so a remembrance is difficult in the Pacific.

It’s not unusual, lately, to see a poll telling us how many current Americans are not proud to be an American.  Obviously, they either don’t know or choose to ignore the Americans who gave their lives to save civilization in World War 2.  Americans may not be perfect but we’re damn sure better than whoever is in second place.