The young, bright-eyed, patriotic men who served were idealistic and perhaps, naive. Their hearts beat wildly in anticipation of meeting the enemies of freedom and sending them to defeat.

These same men believed that once their mission was complete, that freedom and democracy would reign forever. History has exposed their naiveté, as other despots would have risen to cause discord throughout the world.

Closer to home, our veterans returned to their families as victors. A return home full of hope for their futures, content to live out their lives as free people in our great democracy.

For citizens of our nation, unacceptable changes have taken place in the way of life that everyone expected. Recent events have changed our freedom of choice, freedom of association, and freedoms of thought and speech.

A candidate who didn't receive the majority of the popular vote in the 2000 election was subsequently appointed to the presidency by the Supreme Court of the United States of America, thereby becoming our illegitimate president. The choice of the voters of our country was taken away by a partisan court in conjunction with voter fraud and ballot counting. This was only the beginning.

The terrible events of Sept. 11 opened the door to further abuses and violations of our rights as American citizens. The culprits were the administration as represented by the president and his rights-robbing attorney general.

Thousands of citizens, especially those of Middle Eastern descent, were detained without the right of communication or legal counsel. This was another attack on our rights. Authorized monitoring of conversations between detainees and their attorneys, when such counsel was permitted, quickly followed.

Legislation authorizing secret searches of the homes of ordinary Americans was requested by the attorney general. This outrageous request was followed by seeking the right to search the mail and the Internet for information deemed dangerous. What happened to the rights of privacy and free speech?

When our citizens raised an outcry against these abuses, the president of the United States labeled us as "unpatriotic" or "traitors."

The most recent insult and attack on our way of life, is the "Operation Tip" program proposed by the president and his attorney general. They want to turn this country into a land of informants.

Flashback to the Nazi regime in Germany, a country where family members informed on each other; neighbors told officials of what they believed to be suspicious activities; and co-workers were not hesitant to turn in each other to the authorities.

The president and the attorney general didn't live through that Nazi era; therefore, they are unable to realize the terror and death wrought by the Nazi "Tip" program. Evidently, they paid little attention to their history lessons in school. If they had, they would have known that they are now off course with their latest freedom suppressing idea.

Every citizen of our great country should rebel when the job description of mailmen, home repair people, meter readers, delivery people and others coming into your home, include the requirements to spy on citizens whom they serve. This is not to say that we as citizens should not be aware of what is happening around us.

To the credit of the U.S. Post Office, they refuse to participate in this outrageous bird-brained activity.

With all these assaults on our freedoms, the young, bright-eyed, patriotic men who fought to retain these freedoms are now sad-eyed, old men. These men, like myself, are still patriotic. They still want to hold out hope for this country, a hope that seems to diminish daily. We have lost our naiveté, and perhaps, some of our idealism.

Each of us, as citizens, must participate to stop the assault on the freedoms and rights that are part of the heritage of every American. We must raise our voices in unison to express our outrage at the direction the administration is taking us. We are now, and forever will be, freedom-loving Americans. The Constitution guarantees that to us.

By fighting back, we will prove to the president that we are not a country of "traitors," but rather, a nation of red-blooded patriots.

DONALD CLARK

Commander, Homewood VFW Post 8077