My dad, Daniel W. Gates, a lifelong Republican, was a B-17 pilot and POW in WWII. After 11 treacherous missions, he was shot down over Berlin on his 12th mission, forcing him and his crew to parachute out of the plane. He was captured by the Nazis and held as POW in Stalag Luft One, an interrogation POW camp holding almost 8,000 American airmen, and 1200 British prisoners. From day to day, he didn’t know if he would survive, and he didn’t know if the war would end or not before they all died as POWs.
Enlisting as a 6-foot, 185-pound healthy young man, he endured 9 months of captivity. As a prisoner, he was starving, eating only the meager meals provided, and he lost 70 pounds. He was covered in lice and his feet were frozen. He dreamed of being rescued, and of going home to his beloved country, not knowing if that day would ever come.
But one day, he awakened at dawn and stood up to listen. He could not believe his ears. He was hearing “The Star-Spangled Banner,” our national anthem, being sung by POWs, an act punishable by death. At first it was a few voices, then hundreds, and soon it was thousands of POWs singing the American national anthem. That is how my dad knew WWII was over and that the Germans had abandoned post. The Russians, our then allies, had arrived to assist in the rescue of POWs to begin the process of returning to America. He came home to Spokane, WA, to meet and marry my mom, Margaret Meenach, and to have a family of six children, including me. He had risked his life to protect American lives and to fight for freedom of a country he loved, a country founded on democracy.
As a junior high aged girl, I was asked to write an essay on how Thomas Jefferson was able to write the Declaration of Independence. Knowing how much my dad valued peace, freedom, and democracy, I asked him what he thought. My dad sat down and began describing what he believed inspired Thomas Jefferson’s passion and compelling vision to compose this influential and inspiring document. I can vividly remember writing down my dad’s words and ideas that day. He described qualities of courage, integrity, compassion, and most of all, the vision of creating a nation with liberty and justice for all, a country based on democracy and respect for all people.
My dad served in WWII because he loved America. He fought for all Americans. He did not fight for just Republicans. He fought to preserve our freedom and to protect us from tyranny from foreign governments. He staked his life on it. But today our democracy is at stake.
The United States is in a crisis—a hot, conflict-ridden political mess. If my dad were still alive, I wonder what he would say and think of the chaos, the divisiveness, and the deterioration of the Republican party. Like many of my Republican friends, I believe he probably would no longer recognize the party to which he ascribed all his life. I know he would be shocked by a former president who blatantly lies, makes baseless attacks on everyone he deems a personal enemy, provokes violence amongst followers, commits fraud to enrich himself, is indicted multiple times, and worst of all, refused to participate in the peaceful transition of power, and instead, incited an insurrection.
But I believe he would be most outraged to see that the Republican party today is supporting the person who plans to be an authoritarian, a dictator, and an absolute ruler. This kind of leader is the antithesis of a democratic leader. The very purpose of my dad’s missions in WWII was preserving democracy by fighting against a dictatorship regime. I also believe he would be appalled at the cowardice of conservatives who refuse to stand for democracy and are in fear of the former president. My dad would be moved to tears at the possibility of our democracy dying, as is a very real outcome if we don’t stop the hurling and catastrophic events coming toward us today.
I hope we can preserve our democracy and courageously stand for truth. I sincerely believe it will take all of us to save our country from the radical conservatives who are willing to sacrifice our democracy in favor of their own political agendas, wealth, and power. We need everyone to vote to uphold our American ideals before it is too late. If we don’t take a strong stand now, it will be the dying of democracy and the end of our country as we know it.
