The Patriot Post® · 'Welcome Home'

There are lots of issues making headlines, but today I want to focus on only one because it is the only one that really matters.

The remains of U.S. soldiers who fought and died in Korea were welcomed home Wednesday night. Vice President Mike Pence was there on behalf of President Trump and a grateful nation. Below are excerpts of his remarks:

“The Good Book says, ‘If you owe debts, pay debts; if honor, then honor; if respect, then respect.’ And we are gathered here at this Honorable Carry Ceremony to receive 55 flag-draped cases, which we trust include the remains of American heroes who fell in the Korean War.

"Some have called the Korean War the ‘forgotten war.’ But today, we prove these heroes were never forgotten. Today, our boys are coming home.

"President Trump asked me to be here on this day, on his behalf, and honestly, I’ve never been more humbled to be asked to represent him. You see … my dad, Lieutenant Ed Pence, fought in combat in the Korean War. He came back with a medal on his chest.

"But my dad — gone now 30 years — always told us that the real heroes of the Korean War were the ones that didn’t get to come home. And I just know there’s no place Dad would rather have me be than here with all of you, welcoming these heroes home…

"In just a few moments, the remains of some of those same American heroes were finally returned to American soil, draped in the colors of the country they served. Today, they are known but to God. But soon we will know their names, and we will tell their stories of courage.

"They were soldiers, yes, but they were also husbands and fathers, brothers and neighbors, long gone but never lost to the memory of their loved ones…

"To the veterans of our Korean War … thank you for your service. We hope that in this ceremony, in this promise kept, you see once more the deep gratitude that every American feels for your service, and that you’d leave with the absolute assurance that the Korean War is forgotten no more.

"And to our honored dead, who gave the last full measure of devotion for their families and our freedom … we breathe a word of thanks for your service and sacrifice. And we say to you, as one people, with one voice: Welcome home.”

Why It Matters

On his way to Hawaii, Vice President Pence stopped in California to pick up two guests — Diana Brown Sanfilippo and Rick Downes.

Diana and Rick were both young children — just three and four years old — when their fathers left for Korea. Sadly, they never returned. It’s a long shot, but Diana and Rick hope their fathers came home Wednesday night.

If you want to better understand why America is so divided, here’s one reason: We are getting our facts from very different places.

Barack Obama used to make that argument, and to a degree he was right. But he went wrong when he would use that point to attack Fox News. You see, Obama was complaining that there was one non-liberal source of news.

But his point is correct. Large swaths of America are either watching Fox News or they are watching CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, or NBC.

Any American watching Fox saw the Honorable Carry Ceremony in its entirety. But if you were watching CNN or MSNBC and happened to get your dessert at the wrong time, you wouldn’t have known it was happening at all because the coverage was nil or only seconds.

Thirty years ago, every news channel would have covered this event. But not today’s progressive media.

So Thursday morning, millions of Americans, myself included, drove to work reminded again, broken again, about the sacrifices that allow us to be so comfortable, that permit us to take our freedoms for granted.

And millions of others drove to work worried about whether some Russian lawyer met with Donald Trump, Jr.

As the vice president spoke about First Lieutenant Frank Salazar, Diana’s father, and First Lieutenant Hal Downes, Rick’s father, I got angry.

The Left has been relentlessly pounding the president over the issue of children separated from their parents. There are children, like Diana and Rick, who are separated from their parents when their mothers and fathers are sent overseas to defend our country.

In many cases, these children are permanently separated from their parents if they happen to be the children of soldiers killed by jihadists, or children of the 36 police officers shot and killed in the line of duty so far this year, or the children of Border Patrol agents who are murdered while protecting our borders.

To our 24-hour media echo chamber, these American children don’t matter enough to warrant even a few minutes of coverage. Those American children in the womb don’t merit any coverage either.

Progressives are always talking about compassion, empathy, and tolerance. But they are very selective about who they give it to. It is during moments like this that the disdain the Left shows for the heroes who guarantee our freedoms of speech, assembly, and the press becomes crystal clear.

We are supposed to rally to the Dreamers, while ICE is abolished. We are supposed to weep for every child from Central America, while no tears are shed for the Angel Moms.

The Left gets excited when it talks about “fundamentally transforming” America. But that is a big reason why Donald Trump was elected president in 2016.

Millions of Americans were sick of their values being mocked. They were tired of feeling like strangers in their own country.

They don’t want to fundamentally transform America. They want to make America great again!