God Bless the Forces
of Might for Right
Date:
Tuesday, May 07
Topic:
America
From
Martial Arts Professional Magazine (November 2001)
By:
Grandmaster Jhoon Rhee
An open letter to
student Richard Lee Delgaudio and the other young men and
women of our armed forces preparing for war.
I
want to say thank you and God bless you as you prepare to
defend your country, your loved ones and a system of
government unique in all of the world. I am praying for you
and I am so grateful to you. I am writing these words to you
and to the members of the Scouts/Recon platoon of the 1st
Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Air Assault Division
of the United States Army at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky, before
you are sent to war. This message is for every member of the
"Tiger Force," for the entire 101st Air Assault Division and
for every member of our armed forces of the United States. God
bless all of you.
I have answered the call to
be a Founding co-chairman of Operation Appreciation to express
thanks and Appreciation to you and to all our Armed Forces who
go forth as our champions. I am proud to serve with fellow
co-chairmen, Admiral Thomas Moorer USN (Ret.), the former
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States,
and with Major General Richard Anson US Army (Ret.), And with
Richard Delgardio, chairman of the Operation Appreciation
Freedom Center Foundation.
They say so much about
their so-called belief in God, these evil terrorists. But,
this country, America, is the nation founded on a belief in
the Almighty, the belief in righteousness and the belief that
each person of whatever nationality, whatever background,
whatever origin, should be left alone to worship God as he,
alone sees fit. We are the Americans, in a nation truly
founded upon moral right, whose first settlers kneeled down at
Plymouth Rock and gave thanks to the Almighty.
We are
a nation whose sons have a Very good reason to be proud of
what they are defending-not just their neighbors and families
and country, but a system which, as Abraham Lincoln said, must
not be allowed to perish from the earth.
As I write
you these words of explanation -- and I believe we older
people owe you young people wearing that uniform a very good
explanation for what you are now facing -- I hope you remember
that I am thinking of you all as you prepare for the task
ahead.
The time of mourning is ending. The time of
sadness must be put to the side. We must shrug off the shock
so many of us still feel. Now, you have to go to fight the
war. I will pray for your safe and sound return. Our loved
ones in the Armed Forces of the United States must under-
stand what it is they face, and why we ask them to go forth
for us in this sacred mission. For you, and not your
adversary, are the Mujhaddin, the Holy Warriors. Let me
explain why.
You have heard me speak several times at
your tae kwon do graduation classes. I have spoken out over
and over again of the goodness of the American Founding
Fathers Freedom System. Back during the time of the American
Revolution, then, as today, it boiled down to the Slavery
System verses the Freedom System in the world. Unquestionably,
slavery represents evil. Freedom represents the good on earth.
My martial arts black belt form named Might for Right,
choreographed to the classical music "Exodus," is a martial
arts ballet that teaches the story in action as in sound, of
this elemental, basic fight on earth between the good and the
evil.
You and those preparing for this fight, from
your fighting Tiger Force to all the Armed Forces of the
United States, are the forces for good, the forces of moral
right. I want you to know that from now until the day you
return, I have asked every Jhoon Rhee black belt in the world
to join me in dedicating all performances of this black belt
form, "Might for Right," to you and to the Americans who have
answered our nation's call to duty. You who are all so
selflessly work- ing to defend your families your neighbors,
your country, our system, our values.
This war may be
long; it may be expensive; it may cost us dearly, All this, I
do not Know. I only know that it must be done and That
Americans must pledge their unceasing, unwavering and total
support to you, to our President and to a defense of our most
basic values.
Human history has seen a constant
conflict between good and evil. The conflict began with one
person against on person and then between small groups,
between cities, between nations, between ideologies, and most
fundamental of all, most elemental of all, the fight between
evil against good. you are not fighting for territory, not for
things, not for goods, not for money, but for this cause of
right. This freedom system, this cause of right, is the only
system on earth that allows happy living for all.
Alex
de Tocqueville, a French juror, visited America in 1831 to
investigate why America was exploding with growth and
prosperity. He interviewed many people to learn the secret.
When he returned to France, he wrote two thick volumes of a
wonderful book, "Democracy in America." In it, he said: "I
sought for the greatness and genius of America in her
commodious harbors and her ample rivers, and it was not there;
in her fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not
there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it
was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and
heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand
the secret of her genius and power. America is great because
she is good and if America ever ceases to be good, America
will cease to be great."
The goal of our nations's
Founding Fathers was not simply to declare independence and
obtain freedom for themselves. Quite the contrary. They were
selfless when they declared eternal hostility to all forms of
slavery. Their enemy was the slave system run by dictators and
tyrants. Their goal was to remove this evil from the face of
the earth through a Declaration of Independence aimed to
enlighten, to educate their fellow man and give knowledge of
God-given freedoms. They wanted sovereignty for their new
nation, but they wanted their fellow man to be aware of the
superiority of the freedom system versus the slave system.
That Declaration of Independence- that announcement of
the Freedom System, caused a war. Now, the evildoers seek to
hurt and even to destroy America, the founding nation and
champion of this won- derful Freedmon System. Once again, as
has happened several times in our nation's history, we
Americans must ask our young people to step forward and go to
war to protect and to defend this, the most right- eous nation
on earth today, this, what the great President Ronald Reagan
called "the shining city on a hill."
I emphasize this
point to you, the soldiers of Good; you, the forces of Might
for right are at war with evil. You are the defenders not just
of your fellow warriors in your unit, not just the champion of
your hometowns, your community, your state, your country, your
government. You go forth to preserve the Freedom System, you
go into combat as the champions of the Founding Fathers of the
greatest, most moral country in The history of this planet.
Again and again, Americans have helped people all over
the world. Frequently with money, often with fighting troops
to secure freedom by force of arms against dictators and
evildoers, and always, with the words and ideals of the
founding fathers who fought the Revolutionary War to found
this freedom system.
As my students I have continually
devoted myself to proclaim and teach the truth about the
generosity of America and the righteousness of the freedom
system throughout the world for the last quarter of a century
in Korea, Japan and in the countries of the former Soviet
Union. Sadly, many of our fellow Americans do not know these
truths-that ours is a history of generosity that has benefited
the world. Our founding fathers created the finest governing
system in the history of this planet.
The assault on
America by the evildoers was designed to make us back off. We
will not. The terrorists want us to shut up. We will proclaim
freedom - if not from the rooftops of the World Trade Center,
then from a thousand campfires of you, the Forces of Might for
Right, you, the armed forces of the United States of America
who are being sent abroad to seek out evil and to wipe it from
the face of the earth.
The tyrants came into our
homeland and they killed our men, women and children. They
destroyed our property, defaced the beautiful skyline of New
York City. They left us something to remember. We will
remember. And then we will come for them, and we will free
men, women, and children. We will teach the value of property,
and we will give them something to remember. They and the
world, will never, ever forget us.
No, we will not
back off. Instead, we will expand the Freedom System of the
American founding Fathers on this planet. As Admiral Yamamoto
admitted after his warplanes had done their work at Pearl
Harbor, the evildoers have awakened a sleeping giant. December
7, 1941 was the beginning of the end of an evil Japanese
empire. Now, September 11, 2001 is the beginning of the end of
terrorism and the start of another expansion in the world of
the U.S.A. Freedom System.
I salute the armed forces
of the United States and our President. I beg Americans to
stand united in the coming, prolonged and expensive defense of
our most sacred and cherished beliefs.
On behalf of
Operation Appreciation of the Freedom Center Foundation, I
address these words of gratitude to all of freedom's defenders
- to every man and woman wearing the uniform of the United
States military-and to those who work intelligence and who
don't ever wear a uniform.
God bless you, the forces
of Might for Right. I pray for you to return home safely and
soon, and most of all, victorious in this fight for the
greatest nation with the finest ideals in the history of the
planet. God bless you. God bless America.
Jhoon
Rhee is co-chairman of Operation Appreciation, a project of
the Freedom Center Foundation. Rhee is a 10th degree black
belt and is considered to be the Father of tae kwon do in the
United States and in the former Soviet Union. He was awarded
the 721st Point of Light Award by President George Bush. Grand
Master Rhee will dedicate a portion of all speaking engagement
honoraria to purchasing articles, which will give comfort to
members of the Armed forces of the United States - items not
provided by the Armed Forces. Grand Master Rhee is one of the
first to donate to this cause. Inquires about speaking may be
addressed to Ken Carlson by calling (703) 273-5425.
Tax deductible donations may be sent to:
Freedom Center Foundation Operation Appreciation Project,
Richard A. Delgaudio, Board Chairman Freedom Center 10560 Main
Street, Suite 217 Fairfax, VA 22030
For the full text
of the Jhoon Rhee letter, further explanation of this project
and the list of items needed for seviceman, visit: http://www.freedomcenterfoundation.org/, or mailto:RichardDelgaudio@aol.com.
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