Personally I think it weakens the importance of the event and you should just lead into it.
You could include a final paragraph briefly describing your involvement and how it happened, and end with the "The time has come for this author to tell that story. ".
Did you consider a stronger word than "Stand" like "Battle" or "Conflict" or "Struggle" or "Standoff" or "Encounter"?
"Stand" in the title is what I feel good about...I have called it that from the start and there is already a lot of recognition out there to that name.
As always, my friend, thank you for your comments and advise.
INTRODUCTION
This is the story of how rural western farmers and their supporters stood up against entrenched environmentalists, liberal politicians, appointed Federal judges, and agencies of the Federal Government…and prevailed.
It is the story of farmers in the Klamath Basin and those who supported them in their struggle to reclaim their water rights in the summer of 2001.
It is a story told through eye-witness accounts, narratives, and pictures. This author was humbled to stand with those patriotic, God-fearing Americans defending their God-given, unalienable rights against a Federal bureaucracy gone amok. It’s a story of how a rabid environmental lobby, federal judges, and politicians willfully perverted our system to deprive those citizens of their water and property rights. In so doing, those citizens were in danger of losing their livelihoods and their way of life.
It led to intolerable conditions that could not be allowed to stand…and those conditions did not stand.
May this inspiring story of American faith, courage, and determination serve as a beacon for all those who read it, may it also serve as a model for others to defend their own rights whenever this ugly specter rears its head.
…after five years, where much has occurred to overshadow those events…still, nothing can erase their importance or their impact, then, now, or in the future.
The time has come for this author to tell that story.