VIDEO: Kootenai Sheriff Norris’ Emotional Speech At Memorial Day Ceremony — Veterans Speak Out Against Marxist Agenda, Degradation of Culture — “This Is Not What They Died For”
They Fought For Us. They Died For Us — It’s Time For Us To Really Listen To Them.
(Coeur d’Alene, Idaho) — Over 100 people came to the Coeur d’Alene Memorial Gardens to pay their respects and participate in a ceremony to honor the fallen heroes and heroines that paid the ultimate price in order to make America the greatest nation on Earth.
The ceremony was put on by the Marine Corps League Pappy Boyington Detachment #966, which is named after the legendary Coeur d’Alene Aviator and Idaho Hall of Fame inductee. Michael Quinn, commandant of the Detatchment who served as master of ceremonies started off the event by saying:
“Today we are honoring and celebrating our deceased military service men and women. These men and women chose to fight for our safety and freedom. This choice often presents a difficult and challenging path. This is the path of a warrior. Today is meant to honor and celebrate, not mourn, our heroes who took the warrior path in order, protect our lives and freedoms. God bless them all.”
Darla Fletcher, the detachment’s chaplain offered up a prayer, followed by Berkley Oceglow, a Lakeland High Schooler who sang the national anthem.
Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris then took the stage and gave an emotional speech in memory of the fallen heroes, and a battle cry for the heroes of tomorrow: Our nation and our culture is worth fighting for.
Sheriff Norris emphasized that “Memorial Day is not about a three day weekend, it is not about a barbecue, and there is nothing happy about it.”
Instead, Sheriff Norris highlighted the true meaning of the day saying, “The fallen men and women of our military are the fabric and Culture of America. They are the best example of Americanism that exists.” Norris said that these military men and women who have put everything on the line exhibit “confidence, courage, determination, and selflessness,” and that these traits have made them role models. The Sheriff went on, specifically citing Civil War General Stonewall Jackson, World War II veteran Richard Winters and Vietnam Veteran Tommy Norris.
“Through the character traits of our memorialized military service members a culture and Nation emerged; The United States of America. Our nation is a country and culture worth fighting for.”
The ceremony, which can be watched in full on our YouTube channel, ended with a 21 gun salute.
A Culture Worth Fighting For
Following the ceremony, various veterans were interviewed by local media outlets such as the Coeur d’Alene Press and KHQ, but there are some things that were said by these courageous veterans — American HEROES — that have been swept aside and brushed under the rug, never to see the front page of the newspaper, or a slot on the 6:00 pm news.
But why? You would think that a man confident enough to fly a plane through a war zone, determined enough live on a submarine for months, or someone who selflessly volunteers to enlist in the Army to pick up a gun and charge into harms way, in order to fight for Americans back home… You would have earned the right to be heard. Wouldn’t you?
One Veteran who spoke with the Tribune under the condition of anonymity said:
“The people in charge are Communists, and they have gotten too much power. They’ve got their fingers into corporations, and they are using them to change our culture. Now, I don’t think the corporations really believe what they’re putting in their commercials with all this ESG and stuff, but the Teachers Unions? That’s a different story. That’s completely intentional. We need to get a hold of our culture again.”
Well…
Now we know why they won’t print this stuff in the CDA Press, and why they edit it out of the news on KHQ…
We asked this Vietnam Veteran if he feels as though he fought for the “freedom” for teachers unions to impose “woke culture” on our children.
“Oh, absolutely not. No, not at all. What I fought for… The trouble is that all of the ESG and the DEI stuff - it's all coming, out of the One World Order movement; the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, and his ilk, and they're pushing the Marxist agenda everywhere. They've got control of the banks and the big corporations with their woke agenda. And people are afraid to stand up against it. I mean, anywhere that anybody stands up, they get crushed. And so people are a little nervous about opening their mouths and standing up.“
The veteran continued, saying:
“What happened with Bud Light was a spontaneous response across the country, and I thought that that was wonderful. Yeah. We didn't have to call for boycotts or anything else, but as citizens within the culture, when we see it going south, we have to stand up and speak out against some of the Marxist things that are filtering in. And, and it happens in such small ways. A little bit at a time. People don't even notice. It's like the story about boiling the frog. You put him in a hot pan of water, he'll jump out. But if you put him in cold water and turn up the heat slowly, he never notices. And that's, I see what happened has happened to the country.”
We asked him “if the people that had died [in Vietnam] were alive today, what do you think they’d be saying to themselves?” His answer was unequivocal:
“This is not what I gave my life for… For our country to turn into what it's turning into now.”
Our anonymous veteran moved to Coeur d’Alene 8 years ago from California. We asked him “Do you trust the CDA Press?” His answer was simple and straightforward: “No, I do not.” He explained “I took the paper when I first moved up here and realized how off target they were on so many of the social and political issues.”
More Come Forward — “You Can Put My Name On It, I Don’t Give A S***”
Overhearing our conversation, a second gentleman in his late 70’s or early 80’s looking sharp in his dress blues with a garrison cap cocked across his head, and medals on his chest wheeled himself over to the grass in his wheelchair. “I think everybody in my era still hates that friendly lady that colluded with the enemy.”
“Hanoi Jane, right?”
“Yeah,” he cackled between his oxygen machine assisted breaths. “Jane Fonda. They still hate her. I guess somebody not too long ago was spitting in her face again,” he laughed.
“You know, I always wondered how her father must have felt, you know? ‘Cuz he was a pilot - Air Force. Very well respected. And then she did that crap. Uh, I think one thing that they, at least for the younger generation anyway, for Desert Storm and that at least they welcomed them home.”
Ivan lamented the treatment that troops received when they came home from Vietnam.
We asked if he would like to give his comments anonymously, or use his name.
“I don't care. […] Anybody that knows me, okay <laugh>. I don't give a s**t. My daughter says “Dad!” I said, ‘I don't care. I'm gonna say what I believe.”
This veteran’s name is Ivan Bishop and he also fought in Vietnam.
“Did we need the war? No. You know, somebody had to prove something and we're on the bottom end of the ladder. So the people above said we're gonna do it. So most of us did it. At the time we didn't like it, you know? Especially coming home…
“When we were over there, it wasn't bad cuz everybody was the same. You know? And that's something that the civilians don't understand is; once you've been in the military, Air Force - it doesn't matter which branch - they're a family to us. And then to come home and have the people that we really, really were trying to protect, at least led to believe that, that, uh, it didn't happen. Our government, I don't think stood up enough for us.”
Ivan Bishop (Right, Seated) Pictured at the 2022 Memorial Day Ceremony — Photo Credit: Bill Buley
We asked him what “what do you think about the direction of where we're going as a country, as a society?”
Bishop let out a snort and a sarcastic “Yeah” with a funny, charming, eye roll. “If you ask any old person, we all think it. They [liberals] suck. You can't say anything to anybody.” He warned “Look at the library system. Who the hell wants to have transgender people reading to kindergarten people? If they want to come in [to the library dressed] as normal, then let 'em do it.”
“I think the biggest thing is, it started a long time ago in the school systems and now teachers have been brainwashed. Professors are brainwashed. Same thing. Uh, they need to teach history. If you're from Texas, first thing you know, you praise ‘I'm a Texan.’ If you're from the United States, do you hear anybody say, yeah, ‘I'm a Californian’, ‘I'm an Idahoan’… It's ‘I’m a Texan.’ Got to preach history, and preach it the right way. Whether it's about black people, or Mexicans, whatever the nationality is, they need to be told what we did to them or what they did to us. And that's it.”
We asked, “so the racial tension in America?” Bishop, who is sharp as a tack, whipped back “I think the media hypes it. All the time. Split, split, split. They want to divide us.”
“We used to have prayer in school. If you didn't want a prayer, you just bench your head. Who cares? They used to say the pledge of allegiance. Now they don't. They're stripping away our foundation. And the foundation is Family. As soon as you get 18, you're moving out. You know, they're just not enough family. My kids were here today, you know, my grandkid and my son and it was really nice to have them here. Yeah. You know, very, very nice.”
Wrapping up our conversation, we asked “So, with all of what you’ve said; is this what you fought for?”
“Not what I see today. Right?” <laugh>.
If the CDA Press was writing up this same conversation, out of everything that we talked about, and we spoke for over 10 minutes, their only quote would have been “My kids were here today, you know, my grandkid and my son and it was really nice to have them here. Yeah. You know, very, very nice.”
Their Voice Has Been Stripped From Them By The Media
Everyone we spoke to at today’s Memorial day ceremony was eager to tell their story, to try and get their message out. To warn people that America is headed down a dark path if we don’t wake up and reverse course, and do it real quick.
These veterans didn’t just fall out of the sky. They’ve been living here for years. Decades. For some people this was their 20th, 30th Memorial Day in Coeur d’Alene. They didn’t get brainwashed by Donald Trump into believing this stuff in 2016. This isn’t the work of “The Russians.” These are honest God-fearing, courageous Americans who were all willing to lay their lives down for you, and for me. So, why is it that the media NEVER prints this side of the story?
The last group of people that we talked to as the event was wrapping up was a group called the Vietnam Vets - Legacy Vets Motorcycle Club.
They came to pay their respects to Sgt. Micah Chapin who served in the 82nd Airborne in Iraq.
We spoke with Micah’s sister, Trista, and she told us that after he came home from the war in Iraq, he committed suicide. It was hard to hold back tears hearing this. She told the Tribune “It is 2023, and the lack of mental health services for soldiers and veterans is disturbing.”
She’s right.
According to NBC News (and we take this number with a grain of salt, the real number is likely far higher) 30,177 American military personnel have committed suicide since 9/11. Meanwhile, 7,057 were killed in war operations.
Maybe, just maybe, if the media actually spoke with the people who paid for their “freedom of the press” with their blood, and honestly considered what they had to say, and maybe even printed it, instead of printing almost exclusively lies… Maybe we wouldn’t be getting involved in foreign wars. Maybe our kids wouldn’t be getting shipped off halfway around the world to die protecting some other countries borders, while our own border remains undefended.
Maybe, if the media would stop with their gaslighting - telling people the exact opposite of reality - we wouldn’t be facing a massive mental health crisis in this country.
Maybe. But I wouldn’t hold my breath.
To every veteran who took the time to speak with us today, and share your story and your points of view, we sincerely thank you.
The Idaho Tribune thanks all of our veterans who have put their lives on the line out of love for their country and their neighbors, we say thank you.
As Kootenai County Sheriff Norris ended his speech today, these veterans are “the best example of Americanism that exists. They will never be forgotten.”