As we approach this crucial moment in our nation’s history, we are reminded of the incredible privilege and responsibility we each carry as American citizens to vote. Our Executive Director, David Cook, issues a charge to the American people to honor the sacrifices of all veterans, past and present, by exercising their unalienable right to vote. Please read below.
Fellow Americans,
In the coming days, all of us have the opportunity to exercise our right to vote and determine our next President and Commander-in-Chief. I represent the Special Operations Association of America (SOAA), comprised of current and former Special Operators who have dedicated themselves to serve this great Nation abroad to deter and prevent attacks on the homeland. We raised our right hands and swore an oath to protect the Constitution of the United States – that includes our right to vote. Many Servicemembers died protecting the Constitution and the right to vote. Today, I urge you to exercise that right which so many of our brothers and sisters in arms gave their lives to protect.
Never before has a former President and a sitting Vice President run against each other. This election, the American people have an unprecedented advantage of knowing how each candidate can shape our country and affect our lives in a way unseen in history. In recent months, I have had the honor of speaking with young Servicemembers and Civil Servants who expressed disillusionment or dismay with the choices presented or the general direction of either, or both, political parties.
The internal conflict many of us have is allowed and should be welcomed in public discourse. That is what makes the United States so unique – it is not merely a privilege, but an unalienable, God-given right, enshrined in the Constitution, to have that disagreement in public. This right is extended in the form of a vote because our ancestors took mortal risks to make it so, not unlike our Servicemembers today, who fight to preserve that right.
This election cycle, go vote for our future, our families, and if nothing else, to honor those who gave so much for our Constitutional Republic.
God Bless,
David Cook
Executive Director
Special Operations Association of America
