"Earlier this year, Barack Obama made headlines for mocking the values of small town Americans, telling an audience in San Francisco that heartland folks "cling" to their faith and guns out of "bitterness." Thankfully, some of our young men and women are willing to pick up their guns, not out of bitterness, but out of love for God and Country. This week, one of America's fallen heroes, Sgt. Ryan Baumann, came home and was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery. According to his mother, Ryan decided to join the Army after 9/11 because "he wanted to do everything he could for his country." Ryan died in Afghanistan on August 1st when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb. Lauren Smith, his fiancée, said it was her understanding that Ryan saw the bomb and steered his Humvee so that his side of the vehicle took the brunt of the blast. Everyone else in the vehicle survived.
Like all the courageous men and women who serve our country in the Armed Forces, Ryan Baumann was an incredible person. And an incredible thing happened as his family made the trip to Arlington National Cemetery this week. According to one news report, "In Southern Maryland, residents lined the procession route from funeral services earlier in the morning in Leonardtown to the cemetery in Arlington County. Thousands turned out along Route 5 in Leonardtown to pay their respects." I confess that there are moments when I turn on the television and listen to the rhetoric of Barack Obama, MoveOn.org and Code Pink, and hear the liberal media parrot back the latest leftwing talking points and I fear for the future of our country and worry about the nation and culture that my children will inherent. But so long as America is still capable of producing heroes like Sgt. Ryan Baumann and so long as thousands are willing to stand in the August sun to pay their last respects, I will have hope, and my courage to fight on will be renewed. May yours be too!" Gary Bauer
Campaign for Working Families
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