By Bill Scott
STARRS Board of Advisors
Dedicated, well-targeted campaigns created by STARRS, MacArthur Society of West Point Graduates, Calvert Task Group and other patriotic organizations have educated President Donald Trump and his national security team about a dangerous virus that has infected America’s military services.
Thankfully, the Trump-led team is working hard to excise the virus known as Diversity, Equity and Inclusion or DEI. Dedicated leaders have made significant progress by mandating that DEI be expunged not only from the Defense Department, but all sectors of the federal government.
Now, even private corporations are abandoning DEI—once executives admit that “go woke and go broke” is an absolute, inviolable truth. Smart state and local government officials also are driving out the disease, eliminating entire departments once dedicated to promoting DEI.
However, this virus of Marxist ideology still lurks throughout America. Particularly in education.
Elementary, middle and high schools have all been infiltrated with DEI’s radicalism and overt racism, even though the disease may not exhibit detectable symptoms.
But until early education institutions are disinfected, the DEI virus will continue to live and spread.
Eliminating it won’t be easy, either, given that colleges and universities have indoctrinated teachers and administrators with DEI nonsense.
There’s hope, though. Rather than take DEI head-on by trying to re-educate both teachers and students, it can be annihilated without disruptive, divisive drama by waging a subtle counterinsurgency campaign.
One patriotic outfit in Southern California is undermining DEI via an ancient, simple strategy: Storytelling. The Freedom Committee of Orange County, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit based in Costa Mesa, California, has a stated objective “to bring Living History into the classrooms by sharing stories from all generations.”
Launched in 1995 by Pearl Harbor survivor Jack Hammett, today’s FCOC comprises about 60 members. Twenty of these veterans regularly speak at 10 local schools, relating stories about their military service.
Tales range from gripping combat experiences in the Vietnam jungle to relating what it was like to “sit alert” in deep underground silos, prepared to unleash nuclear-tipped missiles, if ordered to do so.
Overall, these stories give kids a feel for the challenges and opportunities open to those who serve their nation as soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and Space Force Guardians.
An article by Denise Weiland—the organization’s dedicated liaison between veterans and schools for 25 years—summarized the essence of FCOC:
“Most students learn history only from their textbooks, but Newport Mesa Unified School District students gain valuable insights into the past through first-hand stories of service presented by the veterans who fought to defend our nation’s freedoms.
The Freedom Committee of Orange County is a group of military veterans whose mission is “Passing the Torch of Liberty to Future Generations” by bringing living history to the classroom.
…After working together for [three] decades, the veterans continue to surprise and inspire our students and teachers with new anecdotes, insights, and life lessons. Their stories of brotherhood, courage, responsibility, perseverance, faith and hope still resonate. These interactions bridge the generation gap, as our students realize that these veterans were their ages when they marched off to war.
…Jack Hammett always ended his talk with “Take care of my country. I know it is in good hands.” And whenever a student thanks [USMC] Corporal Dwight Hanson for his service, he looks them squarely in the eye and responds, “You were worth it”.”
Conscientious students express gratitude to visiting vets for devoting time to share their stories. Yes, the kids are briefed to parrot, “Thanks for your service,” but many actually sound sincere!
Schools often bolster students’ sentiments by exhibiting large posters that welcome veteran speakers by name, and grateful educators typically provide a box lunch for FCOC speakers.
The toxic tenets of DEI are never discussed or mentioned by visiting veterans. And yet, by telling their real-world stories of military service, a dose of American patriotism is instilled by yesterday’s warriors.
Vets leave schools feeling that maybe, just maybe, they’ve helped vaccinate thousands of tomorrow’s military personnel, corporate leaders and everyday citizens against the deadly Marxist DEI virus by being living examples of a military meritocracy.
What would be the potential impacts of Freedom Committees scattered throughout the United States?
Of volunteer veterans numbering in the thousands routinely addressing many thousands of students?
Aging men and women who continue to serve their beloved nation, not as combatants, but as storytellers, sharing their experiences with today’s youth?
For three decades, the Freedom Committee of Orange County (California) has proven that its simple model motivates a percentage of young people to join a military service, apply for an academy appointment or join a college ROTC unit.
’Tis impossible to measure, but the FCOC also is subtly neutralizing—perhaps killing—the deadly DEI virus in America’s schools.
It’s time to swear-in Freedom Committee volunteers in all American communities. Warriors-of-yesterday stand ready to help destroy DEI.
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Bill Scott is an author, the former Rocky Mountain Bureau Chief for Aviation Week & Space Technology magazine, and a STARRS Board of Advisors member.
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