by Steven W. Shook, Hamilton
My family is a pioneer family that settled in the Bitterroot valley in the 1870s and we have lived here ever since. I grew up in Hamilton and have lived here almost my entire life except for my service in the military. I retired as a Law Enforcement Officer in Ravalli County after 30 years of service and I was a Federal Police Officer for 9 years. During my military career I served in the Army and the Air Force on active duty and reserve for 22 years in many foreign countries including four deployments to the Middle East and the war in Iraq. My son is a National Park Ranger and a Navy Veteran, my daughter is a Federal Employee at the Rocky Mountain Lab in Hamilton.
On Memorial Day weekend I was listening to a local radio station and heard an advertisement from a Hamilton auto dealership advertising a sale. At the end of the advertisement it was stated that you had to be an American citizen to qualify for the sale!
Memorial Day exists for one reason, to honor and remember ALL of the men and women who died and “Gave the Full Measure“ while serving in the Armed Forces of this country. Many of those men and women who died for this country, and we honor on Memorial Day, were not citizens of our country. Most American citizens by choice do not serve in our armed forces; it is left to the few of us, including non-citizens, to serve in our military and safeguard what we hold dear. It sickens me to think that that one of these “non American citizens” who died for this country and gave “The Full Measure“ and we honor on Memorial Day, if they were alive today, would not be allowed to participate in a car sale on Memorial Day weekend because they were not an American citizen. I wonder how many employees of the dealership in Hamilton are Veterans and how many of their “Band of Brothers“ they served with were not American citizens.
The one word that comes to my mind is “shame” – shame on the Hamilton auto dealership and shame on this country for creating an atmosphere where this type of behavior is acceptable.
If someone disagrees with me they should sit down with the family members of the “non American citizen” who died for this country and for them, and listen to their story.