Tony Cucolo

While in uniform, I deployed several times to places where there was no law, or rule by law in the hands of a powerful minority who were better financed or better armed. In those places where I secured the first elections for people who never had the chance to vote, never had the opportunity to have their voice heard, I will never forget the joy on their faces as they exercised that new freedom — so many parents bought their small children into the voting booths to emphasize the importance of the moment and ensure this new freedom made an impression on the next generation. “Look at this power I have,” they would tell them, “You will have it, too.” Imagine feeling fulfilled because you could cast a ballot. Three times I secured new elections in foreign lands, and each time I stared in wonder at the commitment and the determination of voters from every strata of those societies, enduring long lines, terrible conditions, threats of violence and actual acts of violence, undeterred from casting their vote. And each time I thought of my own country and the growing apathy and low voter turnout, the lack of understanding that the ability to vote is both a gift and a solemn a responsibility as a citizen — and that doing so can bring the satisfaction and fulfillment that comes with a duty performed. Soldiers are realistic idealists. We have to be. We get handed impossible missions over and over, and meet each one with an understanding of all the challenges but also with a the firm belief we can get it done. We can do this. We can bring the sense of duty, responsibility, and even the joy and fulfillment that comes with ensuring free and fair elections by volunteering and voting. I have a Capra’esque attitude towards this challenge and our nation. If even one person, the “little” person, the “regular” person who isn’t famous and is just going about their lives steps-up and pitches in, more will follow and that person will have made a difference. This effort is too important to ignore.