A LETTER FROM JESSICA DIECKMAN---THOUGHTS ABOUT BECKSTROM, WOLFE, OUR NATIONAL GUARD AND MORE

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To the Editor,

On Wednesday November 26th, one day before Thanksgiving, two National Guardsmen, Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, both of West Virginia, were shot while on duty a few blocks from the White House in the nation's capital. Spc. Sarah Beckstrom has since died from her wounds at age 20. As of this letter-writing Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe, age 24, remains in extremely critical condition. We have yet again allowed another terrorist into our midst to attack us from within. The reason this keeps happening is because Democrats don’t believe in secure and safe immigration control, processes which would protect both existing citizens and the immigrants who are lawfully seeking a new life in the US.

President Biden allowed people from Afghanistan and other countries to pour into the US without having been carefully vetted for safety and security considerations. This occurred during the embarrassing and disastrous US withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 which left billions of dollars worth of equipment behind as well as 13 marines dead, killed by terrorists as the Taliban carried out a swift 3-day take-over of the entire country. The price for this is still being paid today with the attack on the National Guardsmen.

To make matters worse, the US recently saw the release of a highly controversial video statement from six Democrats, within which the speakers make the implication that the military has been following unconstitutional orders and that they must maintain their lawful option to disobey illegal orders, all without citing a single example of an illegal order. The video was clearly prepared with the intention of causing chaos and doubt by breaking down the chain of command. One of the video's participants, Sen. Elise Slotkin, recently suggested during an interview that the National Guardsmen could get nervous and stressed and "start shooting at American civilians.” A moronic thing for her to say in a climate where people obsess over words, gestures and symbols and wield them for particular purposes, often wildly out of context. These actions by the Democrats are whipping already-frantic citizens into an anti-American frenzy and placing our military and law enforcement at serious risk. 

I have, as many of us have, personally observed the National Guard presence in NYC for years, especially after the September 11th attacks. I have always felt safe when traveling in areas where they were stationed, seeing them heavily armed with K9 units loyally standing-by. The service they provide our country is critical and their conviction to duty exemplary. For anyone to celebrate the Nov. 26 attack is repugnant. Suggesting that the attack is the fault of the Guardsmen's commanding officers (including the current president) for having stationed them in DC is an admission of such illogical ignorance, tantamount with suggesting that a person deserves to be beaten and robbed simply because they were in the path of thugs. Rather than complain about the essential arms of the law that keep the US safe, these viciously heartless criminal-sympathizers would do well to simply leave the country they seem to despise so much and find and emigrate to a place more suited to their temperament and distaste for security. Criticism of a system is healthy, and necessary, especially in an active democracy. But I have dwindling patience for those who victim-blame the US military and law enforcement wholesale. The tired assumption that when our neighbors and family don a uniform they become vicious monsters wears thin in the wake of a season of feckless provocation and its deadly reciprocal violence. 

 It is very much worth noting that Spc. Sarah Beckstrom volunteered for assignment throughout the Thanksgiving holiday so that a fellow soldier could have time with their family. She was there in D.C. keeping our capital safe. She wasn’t randomly shooting her fellow civilians as Sen. Elise Slotkin bizarrely suggested would be the case. US citizens have a choice: to prioritize our citizens, the military and the law-enforcement that protects them, or to prioritize the strangers who simply want to come here regardless of what deadly intentions they can bring. Not everyone is a friend of the US and wants to do good within in this country. What happened to Spc. Sarah Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe was completely avoidable, and most logical Americans see that and want our country protected from such atrocities and terrorism. It’s simply intolerable and the Democrats should process this and change their tune, because Americans won’t put up with being treated like second class citizens within their own country. I pray for the National Guardsmen who were attacked and their families. May this horrible attack make our country stronger in our resolve for safety and security. 

Sincerely,

Jessica Dieckman