His name was Victor Gower. He was 27 years old on December 17, 1944, when the German Ardenne offensive pushed through to his unit. A staff sergeant, he was providing covering fire for his men when a German sniper shot him once, in the chest. His blood spilled onto the snow-covered ground, and he died doing his duty to secure the freedom of all mankind.

That’s who I thought of today when I went to vote for my President. I thought about my Uncle Vic, who wanted to be a fighter pilot, but whose eyes put him in the infantry. He made it safely through North Africa, Sicily and most of eastern Europe before he fell in freedom’s service. He died to secure my right to vote, my right to speak my mind, and my right to defend myself with firearms.

So I went to the polling place in Miramar Beach, Florida, and voted, making sure to run my ballot through the scanner and see proof that my vote was counted. It was the least I could do.

Freedom isn’t always threatened from external sources. Sometimes it’s threatened from inside our own borders. That’s certainly the case as we move toward November 3, 2020. The choice really is, as President Trump says, between a Trump Boom and a Biden Bust. But it’s worse than that. Biden’s plan for firearms regulation, his willingness to pack the Supreme Court, and his flirtation with socialism, all while videotapes of his son having sex and smoking crack go unreported by the mainstream media, means that the country will descend slowly into either disunion or stark socialism. It isn’t a pretty choice.

I voted today based on what I believe. I based on what I know in my heart. I voted based on my love of God and love of country. I did the right thing. I hope each of you can make the same claim. This is not the election to throw away your vote in protest, or sit on the sidelines and simply not vote. That amounts to spitting on the graves of our fallen servicemen.

My uncle did his duty at the cost of his life. I did mine without that risk, but my duty was as important as his. So, my friends is yours.