Fellow American and Friends of Americans,
We have lost another great leader and role model — a True American — Ret. Lt. Gen. Allen Kenji Ono.
Army’s First 3-star Asian-American General Buried at Punchbowl
“Every minute of my career, I was reminded of my obligation to bring honor to my parents, the Japanese American community and to the Japanese American soldiers of World War II who paved my way.”
Where is honor today?
What happened to “Duty, Honor, Country?”
Gen. Ono was not a West Point graduate but he certainly would’ve made Gens. MacArthur and Patton proud to see him being an exemplar of “Duty, Honor, Country.”
Gen. Ono proclaimed: “In the 1980s I returned to Hawaii on leave after seven years away. My mother asked that I put on my green uniform, complete with ribbons and badges, to visit friends and relatives. We made numerous house visits. I was the object of curiosity and attention as my mother proudly showed me off as if to say that we can move from immigrant status to three-star generals in one generation despite the color of our skin and shape of eyes.”
Consider San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick who refuses to stand for the playing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” while wearing an NFL uniform.
By following the leadership of Gen. Ono who said “I had a focused and fierce drive to build a reputation of professional competence and high personal integrity with no blemish of shame on my family and heritage,” Mr. Kaepernick could likewise be a proud American to wear the NFL uniform as a leading quarterback in his profession despite the color of his skin and as a descendant of slaves.
Instead, he brings shame upon his family and heritage.
Mr. Kaepernick should be proud of those who paved the way for him in his profession and all those who have defended the American flag for nearly 2 ½ centuries to make it all possible.
In his Presidential campaign speech nearly 20 years after the end of the Civil War — on Aug. 6, 1880, in New York — James Garfield proclaimed: “We have seen the white men betray the flag and fight to kill the Union; but in all that long, dreary war we never saw a traitor in a black skin.”
God Bless America and the Veterans Revolution!
Mr. Rosebrock may be contacted at rosebrock1@aol.com