The One About A Real American Hero!

[Toriach]

(This article originally appeared at The One About...)

It is said that every generation thinks they are the first to discover sex, drugs, and rebellion, and there is a lot of truth to that saying. I would suggest that another thing that could be added to the list is the idea that all people are deserving of equality regardless of race, gender, or sexual orientation. It is so tempting to assume that anyone over a certain age must not really be as open minded as the rest of us. Especially when that person is white, male, hetero, Christian, and a Republican. But sometimes you get reminded that being any of those things is no barrier to being a decent person who believes, truly believes in equality for all.

Phillip Spooner is one such man. The video that I've embedded is from April of this year and in it he talks about being at his local polling place the previous June and being asked if he believed in equal rights for gay people. A question that at first he did not know how to respond to as he cons

Image via Wikipedia

idered it somewhat absurd. Finally he replied, “What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?”

He then goes on to talk about seeing the ovens at Buchenwald and Dachau and then he says, “I've seen with my own eyes the consequences of caste systems that make some people less than others or second class. Never again.”

Finally in talking about his own children one of whom is a gay man he says, “It doesn't make no sense that some people who love each other can marry and others can't just because of who they are.” “My wife and I did not raise four sons with the idea that three of them would have a certain set of rights but our gay child would be left out. We raised them all to be hard working, proud, and loyal Americans. And they all did good.”


What is he says is good, and right, and true. And to hear it come from someone who grew up in times that were much different than my own, reminds me of the reasons why I don't just give up on the whole human race.

So thank you Mr. Spooner, not only for raising your children well and standing behind all of them, but also for having the courage to speak out. And most importantly thank you for restoring a little bit of my faith in the potential for decency in my fellow humans. You sir truly are an American hero.

Keep The Faith My Brothers And Sisters!