TO THE EDITOR:
There are many historical events that happen in a person's life. I came into this world in November of 1954. I was nine and in the 3rd grade in Mrs. Carr's class at College Hill Elementary when the principal, Mr. Ushery, announced that JFK had been shot and killed in Dallas, TX. I remember Mrs. Carr began to cry. It was a sad day.
I remember watching the news during the Vietnam war as it played out on our TV screen each night. A few years later, I read the headlines of the Gazette I had just delivered on my paper route, about the four students who were killed by National Guardsmen at Kent State University while protest of that war was happening.
I recall Watergate and the day President Nixon resigned in disgrace on national TV. I recall the horror of the rise of the Islamic Revolution in Iran, that overthrew the Shah and held 52 Americans captive for 444 days.
I watched as American troops took on Saddam Hussein's Iraqi army in the first Gulf War and wiped them out in 100 days, a stunning victory. Then, of course, came September 11, 2001, and I watched, again in horror, as the twin towers, and the Pentagon, were attacked by Islamic terrorists. These things brought the country together, and a short few years later, another Gulf War took out Saddam Hussein, but divided the country once again.
But in my opinion, no day was more significant in my lifetime, then January 6, 2021. For you see, on that day, our democracy itself was under attack. We lost more lives in Vietnam and 9/11, but on January 6, we almost lost our freedoms. We almost lost what we all cherish and revere. We almost lost democracy itself. Of all the days I've lived, I've never been more frightened for the country. Donald Trump's coup attempt very nearly succeeded. We cannot put this man back in the White House. I urge you to not vote for him when the time comes or it may very well be the end of our days.
Randy Mauldin
Texarkana, Arkansas