It was 2 events when I was 17 years old in 1982.
As an ignorant youth I was a young Grateful Dead-head and a liberal “Democrat” , at least I thought.
I went to the NYC anti nuke march in June as part of a small Catholic Church group.I saw all the anti nuke, hippie, commie pukes ranting and raving on how they needed to stop Reagan and his plan to deploy nukes to Europe and that he was a Cowboy that would start WW3, (sound familiar)
I began to hate these people and wanted to spit in their face.
After I returned home I started to question my beliefs and values.How could I be a part of this crowd?
Then it happened-as I was attending the 4th of July parade in my hometown of Guilford, CT the light went of in my little head. As I watched the parade roll by of American Revolution reenactment soldiers,Civil War era , the WW1 vets, the WW2 vets, Korea,Viet Nam vets....it is the US military that has fought for and preserved all my rights and has given me the opportunities I have to live free in this glorious country;
God has blessed this nation and it is our responsibility to defend and protect it—
As I stood there on one of the most historic (1639) and beautiful Greens in all of New England it all started to make sense to me...I have voted for the Republican in every election in my life and have NEVER voted for a Democrat.
Great story! I remember the 4th of July Parade in Ocean Grove, NJ in 1992. I was just coming around in those days, as I have outlined above. It confirmed to me all that was right about my decision.