The week of September 11, 2025, was a tough week for our country, but we are getting through it. In our nearly 250-year history, we’ve had some truly difficult weeks. We’ve had good leaders assassinated and have seen others make incredibly tough choices. Yet, after all our advances in technology, communication, trials and tribulations we are still here. No matter how divided we’ve been, we have always found a way to get through these tough times and persevere.
I love watching history documentaries—all sorts of history, not just our own. It’s fascinating to learn where ideas come from and why. For example, from 1860 to 1865, we were at war with ourselves. Nearly 600,000 Americans lost their lives. Our population at that time was about 32 million, so we lost about 2% of our people. If you equate that to today’s population, that would be about six million Americans—more than all the casualties of all the wars we have ever fought combined.
We are blessed in America. We have a document that has stood the test of time: our Constitution. But what good is a constitution if you don’t have anyone to protect and enforce it? At Wounded Heroes of America, we’ve had the privilege of spending a lot of time with those who protect and enforce the laws of the land. Many are old now, and some are very young, but it’s because of them—the men and women who put on the uniform of this country—that we are able to live the way we do. So yes, this was a tough week, but we’ve had tougher ones in the last 250 years.
Closer to home, at our 7th annual WHOA vs. San Gabriel Valley Marines game, we had a tough week. Those darn Marines gave us an old-fashioned butt-kicking again this Saturday. But all in all, we had a great time with our young and old vets this week. These are the men and women who protect our way of life. I have to admit, softball isn’t their strongest suit, but you definitely don’t want them as your enemy when it comes to war.
