Luis Padilla ... proud to be an American

Luis Padilla smiled Friday as I took a photo of his America-loving truck and the memorial on the rear window to Lt. Col. Jeff White.

His truck is big ... his love for America bigger. Luis Padilla is a reminder of our respect and admiration for America ... and he is not ashamed to show it.

In the midst of his truck's red, white, and blue American flags, the American eagle, and stars and stripes, he has penned a memorial on the rear window:

"Lt. Col. Jeff White
An American Hero
RIP."

Jeff White, he told me, was a friend and he was as devastated as the rest of the Harrisonburg-Rockingham area when Lt. Col. White unexpectedly passed away six weeks ago of a heart attack while singing in the church choir. He had just returned form a tour of duty in Iraq ... had survived war ... only to return home and die.

God works in mysterious ways....

Some may remember Luis as the man who was unfairly fired from his job in 2006 from Cargill Foods in Harrisonburg for having a message painted on the rear window of his vehicle supporting the Marriage Amendment. After outrage from many throughout the nation, Mr. Padilla was reinstated at Cargill.

My hat is tipped to you, Luis. May God bless America!

Past SWAC Girl posts about Luis Padilla's firing in 2006:

--- "So did you hear the one about the guy who got fired for supporting the Marriage Amendment?"
--- Valley man fired for supporting marriage
--- Intolerance from the Left?
--- "You're fired"

Photos by SWAC Girl
Lynn Mitchell
May 1, 2009

"God Bless America ... We Still Believe" -- News Virginian ad

Photo of Reo Hatfield's patriotic ad in Friday's
Waynesboro News Virginian, page A9.

One patriotic man ... one patriotic newspaper. Put them together and you get Waynesboro businessman Reo Hatfield and the Waynesboro News Virginian.

Talk about putting your money where your mouth is! Mr. Hatfield took out a full-page color ad on page A9 in the Friday, March 27, 2009, edition. The cost of the ad was $2,400. The page was outlined in red with the words, "God Bless America ... We Still Believe!" across the top against the background of a red, white, and blue American flag.

Across the page, top to bottom, were five columns of names of people in the community who also believe that God blesses America and joined with Mr. Hatfield in publicly saying so.

Notable names included were former Waynesboro City Council member Reo Hatfield, Reo Hatfield III, Reo Hatfield IV (and a slew of other Hatfields), former Augusta County Supervisor Tom Sikes, former Augusta County GOP Chairman Kurt Michael ...

... veterinarian Dr. Bruce Bowman, former GOP Speaker of the House Vance Wilkins, Phyllis Hollowell, realtors Kevin & Vonda Lacey, home builder Mike & Kathy Lacey (Kathy's Restaurant), Del. Steve Landes ...

... auto dealership owner Charlie Obaugh, Augusta Supevisor Tracy Pyles, Harrisonburg-Rockingham Clerk of Court Chaz Evans-Haywood, Rebecca Quick, Yellow Freight salesman Jim Rimel, Valley Blue Dog Steve Sisson, and me as well as many others for a total of approximately 400.

I asked Reo about the reason behind the ad, keeping in mind that he had run patriotic ads in the past. Reo's response:

"I had enough of the government telling the majority of the people that God isn't important.... We are Americans and we have built a country on Truth, Justice, and Freedom ... and 90% of Americans believe it but we can't get the message out. I finally said, 'I am getting the message out.' I love this country and I am ready to fight to keep it."

One patriotic man ... one patriotic newspaper. Together they reminded us of what made this a great country.

May God bless America!