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    Freedom's Last Stand
    Freedom's Last Stand
    Freedom's Last Stand
    Ebook134 pages2 hours

    Freedom's Last Stand

    By Istvan Hernek

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Silver-medalist Olympian Istvan Hernek shares his wisdom with the children and grandchildren of the United States. Through the joys and perils of his early childhood in Hungary to his last days here, free, in America, he tells us the importance of safeguarding our freedoms by being diligent and aware. This is the story of a true patriot who knows what its like to lose freedom, but also how wonderful it is to get it back. Defecting here after the Melbourne Olympics, Istvan writes about the struggles our great nation has gone through and is going through, and how the possibility that the United States was going to make the same mistakes his homeland, Hungary, did worried him. All through the eyes of one who has seen the horrors of communism and also seen the endless opportunities of freedom, listen as Istvan clearly and unbiasedly explains many difficult problems of today. His ideas and views have come from his many extraordinary experiences and his very deep intellectual thinking. Istvan was a dear husband, father, grandfather, and true American in every aspect of the word. His wish is to share with you his knowledge to help keep this country great.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWestBow Press
    Release dateJan 13, 2016
    ISBN9781512727036
    Freedom's Last Stand
    Author

    Istvan Hernek

    Istvan Hernek came to the United States on December 24, 1956, burdened with the sorrow of leaving his loving family and his country, which was once again under siege. It was a sad Christmas; however, he had great hope for his life in this great country. His vision was on freedom. A silver medalist in canoeing in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, he coached a kayaking team in Akron, Ohio, where he met his wife, Mary Ann. He worked as a mechanical engineer for many years before running a family business in Michigan. Today he leaves behind a great legacy: his wife, Mary Ann, three children, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. His love for his family was only equaled by his love for freedom. While his children and grandchildren were growing up, the most important lesson he impressed upon them was to never take freedom for granted. We live in a great country, and everyone’s duty is to make sure that it remained free, no matter the costs. Istvan was an immigrant who showed overflowing patriotism for the country that became his safehaven and home, the country where he started his family, the country where he lived and died. His novel leaves behind his story and his words of advice to America. Will you listen?

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      Book preview

      Freedom's Last Stand - Istvan Hernek

      FREEDOM’S

      LAST STAND

      ISTVAN HERNEK

      28906.png

      Copyright © 2016 Istvan Hernek.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      Cover by Chrystique Neibauer

      This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

      WestBow Press

      A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.westbowpress.com

      1 (866) 928-1240

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-5127-2702-9 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-5127-2704-3 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-5127-2703-6 (e)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2016900724

      WestBow Press rev. date: 1/13/2016

      CONTENTS

      About The Author

      Dedication

      Acknowledgments

      Prologue: A Call to Young People

      Foreword

      Introduction

      Chapter 1: The Lessons of History

      Chapter 2: America Is More than a Place on a Map; America Is a Place in the Heart

      Chapter 3: My Early Life

      Chapter 4: The Myths of Global Warming, Carbon Footprints, Etc.

      Chapter 5: Government: The New Plantation

      Chapter 6: The Disintegration of the American Family

      Chapter 7: The Case for God

      Chapter 8: Education

      Chapter 9: Where Have All the Good Jobs Gone?

      Chapter 10: Race Relations and the Hyphenated Americans

      Chapter 11: Hollywood and the Mainstream News Media

      Chapter 12: Immigration

      Chapter 13: Final Words

      Afterword

      ABOUT THE AUTHOR

      I STVAN HERNEK CAME TO THE United States on December 24, 1956, burdened with the sorrow of leaving his loving family and his country. Hungary was once again under siege. That was a sad Christmas; however, he had great hope for his life in this great country. His vision was focused on freedom.

      A silver medalist in canoeing in the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia, he coached a kayaking team in Akron, Ohio, where he met his wife, Mary Ann. He worked as a mechanical engineer for many years before running a family business in Michigan.

      Istvan left behind a wonderful legacy: his wife, Mary Ann, three children, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren. His love for his family was equaled only by his love for freedom.

      While his children and grandchildren were growing up, the most important lesson he impressed upon them was to never take freedom for granted. Everyone’s duty was to make sure that this great country remained free, no matter the cost.

      Istvan was an immigrant who showed overflowing patriotism for the country that became his safe haven and home. It is where he started his family and where he lived and died. His memoir leaves behind his story and his words of advice to America. Will you listen?

      DEDICATION

      This book is dedicated to my

      grandchildren,

      Shannon, Stephen, Jacob, Nicolette, Cody,

      Jenah, Danielle, Christiana, Skylar,

      and all the grandchildren in this great

      country.

      They are the new generation that carries

      the burden of all that has passed,

      and the hope of returning this country

      to what our ancestors

      intended it to be.

      ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

      I OWE MANY THANKS TO FAMILY and friends who have helped keep me going on this project with their support and (sometimes pushy) encouragement. They helped proofread many of the first copies ( many times over), added suggestions, and donated finances to this book. I especially want to thank Steve and Barb Promo for suggesting a chapter on my early life, which helped tie everything together. I want to thank Men Mending America, a group of men to which I belonged; they have supported and encouraged this project. I also want to thank Bruce Evans and Steve Kehrer. They worked with my daughter, Anna, to get this project to press and to promote it.

      Men Mending America, Steve and Barb Promo, Mary Miller, Anna Marie Perkins, and Mike and Leona O’Neill also helped with financing. Thanks to Beth Steffani, Nancy Sarowski, and Nan Ackerman; they helped keep me from wandering too deeply into the grammatical wilderness, and thanks to Chris Neibauer for the perfect cover art. Also, a special thanks to Johnna Goulding, who spent hours on the final retyping of the manuscript.

      In a roundabout way I am also thankful for the inspiring remark of a professor that my life experiences had distorted my views. I thought, God help us if these are the people teaching our youth! His remark compelled me to write this book.

      I also have to thank my parents; they brought me up to believe in the value of helping others and being responsible for one’s own mistakes and successes. Without them—without those early years—I would not have had the strength and desire to gather the experiences and knowledge that gave me the drive to undertake this project.

      PROLOGUE: A CALL TO YOUNG PEOPLE

      I AM OLD, WITH PERHAPS ONE foot in the grave, and many of you might think that I should have both feet in the grave because I could not possibly understand what interests you, what motivates you, what makes you tick.

      Trust me that I have been where you are. I wanted what you want—to live well, to have things, and to be happy. I was often upset by older people who, I was sure, did not understand me.

      I learned, to my regret, that they did understand. They had been where I happened to be and had striven to be where I wanted to be. During their journey they stumbled, they fell, and they were bloodied. They learned what worked and what failed; they simply wanted me to know what really mattered in the end.

      Wise people tell me that young people supposedly are not interested in morality, integrity, honesty, or that old fashioned fad—religion and faith. If that is true, their quests for happiness will be futile.

      In many places in this book, I have written about the importance of being knowledgeable, vigilant, and engaged—the very things necessary for the survival of our country. I suggested, I encouraged, but I have not grabbed readers by the lapels of their coats or collars, looked into their eyes, and asked them if they are willing to fight for their country and their Constitution—regardless of where they are and what it takes.

      I am asking you now. I am asking you now because the small numbers of magnificent people in our military have always been doing that. They have always stood in the gaps of the city wall, but the real enemy is now within that wall. Those who want to destroy this nation—or those who only stand by and watch—are among us, and it will take all of us to turn the tide.

      As frightening as that task may be, we must not lose heart. When the common man and woman lose faith in their country and become unwilling to fight for her, even the greatest of nations end up on the scrap heap of history.

      There are many examples proving that. One in particular that illuminates that stark reality is what happened to Hungary. Within two centuries, two great disasters descended upon her because the average folk lost interest in defending her.

      About two hundred years after King Saint Stephen, Hungary’s first Christian ruler, the ruling classes placed unspeakable burdens on the serfs working their lands. They were not allowed to move or work for anybody but their landlords. Often, they were forced to work for the landowners six days a week and were able to tend to their own affairs only on Sundays.

      The oppression sparked peasant uprisings, which were brutally put down by the nobles. Members of the nobility usually fought and bickered with each other over holdings, but they united to defeat the serfs.

      When the Mongolian Golden Hordes approached Hungary, they remained on the east side of the Carpathian Mountains for three days, not wanting to engage in a bloody battle with the legendary fighting forces of the Hungarians. However, when they learned that the vast majority of the Hungarian population was not interested in fighting for their oppressive ruling classes, the Mongols invaded and the country was devastated.

      Two hundred years later, the Ottoman Empire had its sights set on Rome and Vienna. Hunyady Janos stopped imperial forces with his peasant infantry led by two monks—one Franciscan and one Pauline. Hunyady did not oppress the peasantry, so they were willing to fight with him. When church bells toll at noon, they toll to commemorate that victory.

      Hunyady’s younger son became King Matthias. He continued his father’s kind treatment of the common people, often traveling in disguise to see how the nobility dealt with their serfs. His Black Army kept the Ottomans in check. He was called the second Attila. After his death, oppression returned, and the serfs had no inclination to fight for their masters. As a result, the Ottoman Turks occupied a large part of Hungary for 150 years. After King Matthias’ death, the peasantry coined the phrase that lives to this day: King Matthias has died, and justice died with him!

      Our founding fathers really understood history, and that is why they did not want a permanent political ruling class. They were deathly afraid of hereditary power and oligarchy, fully understanding that an established ruling class will do terrible things to remain the ruling class. That is why the Declaration of Independence begins with the words, We the People.

      Here are the existential questions: Are you willing to fight for your right to be your own master? Are you willing to fight for the Constitution that

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