What Does America Mean to You?

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Some of you may remember hearing the story of Peter Fetcher, an 18-year-old young man trapped behind the Berlin Wall in East Germany. Peter and his close friend, Helmut Kulbeik, yearned to be free from communist oppression. They dreamed of America – the land of freedom and opportunity. Their desire for freedom was so strong that they finally determined there was no cost too great to obtain it.

On August 17, 1962 the two young men left their bricklaying job for a lunch break and hurried to a little-used factory near Checkpoint Charlie that gave an easy view of the Berlin Wall just a few hundred yards away. Their intent was to wait until dusk to make their break, but around 2pm they heard voices close by and decided to make a break for it. They squeezed through a small window, hurtled over a barbed wire fence, and darted across the death strip toward freedom, Peter in the lead.

Sprinting past Peter, Helmut reached the wall first and scaled the 6-foot barrier crowned with barb wire as bullets peppered the ground and cement around them. Just as Peter reached the wall, he felt a piercing pain in his back, then another in his leg. He stumbled and then fell next to the wall.

Watching the horrific scene West Berliners, just feet away, were unable to help the dying young man who cried out in pain. Peter Fetcher's journey had ended just feet from freedom. Around the world the eyes and hearts of millions of people watched in stunned stillness as newspapers and television stations reported in fifty languages the incredible story of Peter and his desperate journey toward freedom. Millions listened to the recorded words of his friend who had escaped.

"We wanted to go to America! It was worth it to us! We would do anything! We wanted to go to America!"

What does America mean to you?

For billions of people around the world America has been, and still is, a beacon of hope – a dream that burns within their hearts. This generation has been blessed to largely inherit the freedoms we enjoy, but freedom demands a price and every generation must pay it.

9 comments

Mar 18, 2023
Ronald Zahn

Carolyn Worssam, you mean well, and I wish you well, but Article V provides for two ways of amending the Constitution, which the Founders knew would be necessary from time to time. First, Congress may itself propose amendments. Secondly, since Congress itself would likely be the cause of the need for amendments, the states were empowered to take action. It would have been folly for the Founders to provide for two ways for Congress to enact amendments while leaving the states helpless in the matter. All the commas and periods support this view, that either Congress OR the states can take action. No, Congress cannot block the will of the states in this matter, the very states which authorized the existence of Congress in the first place.

Mar 18, 2023
Carolyn Worssam

To those who want a Convention of States and Term Limits:

Please read Article V of the Federalist papers with all its commas and periods. You are being fooled!! Once a Convention is called by Congress the States have no authority and given We The People have huge numbers of Communists in our Congress, both Republican and Democrats they will destroy our Constitution and take away all of our RIGHTS. You Sir, are advocating for the destruction of our Constitution.
As for Term Limits: We The People have the ability to exercise instill term limits without Congress passing another law (if they will) that they will not obey. OUR VOTES ARE TERM LIMITS. We have allowed all the evil to come about. We do not vett those running for office period and we have turned our backs on GOD.

Mar 18, 2023
Charlie Chapman

Bob Walker , you need to go back to second grade and learn to spell. Get off your high horse and get on the ground with We The People.
Trump can’t save us by himself, we will have to stand up and fight with him.

Mar 18, 2023
Susan Buelow

As a former educated, I continue to be appalled at what is happening in the public schools and colleges. We must not erase our history! “Who we are is who we were.” -John Quincy Adams

Mar 16, 2023
Seth Bradford Wagenman

Please join the Convention of States movement to put the federal government back in its proper place:

http://conventionofstates.com/?ref=38526

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