Access to safe, clean drinking water is one of the most essential necessities for our existence, and for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, their very lives are at stake as the construction of the North Dakota Access Pipeline attempts to tear through their land.
I recently returned from Standing Rock. Like me, many other veterans travelled there in order to defend the water protectors from intimidation and assault at the hands of local police and DAPL security. And unless people stand up to help, the Sioux tribe’s sacred lands and water supplies will be seriously endangered.
When we first enlisted, we swore an oath to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” Right now, some of those enemies are in North Dakota right now, attacking the people of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and attempting to pump dirty, fracked oil through their sacred lands.
It is our moral duty to stand up and protect those who are being oppressed. It is also our moral duty to fight back against the big oil companies and special interests that are fueling this dangerous and destructive land-grab.
This is a defining moment for our nation. And we must do everything in our power to stand up for these people who have been silenced and oppressed for far too long.
Veterans don’t give up and we don’t back down. Neither do the water protectors in Standing Rock. Stand with us, so we can stand with them.
Alan Pitts
@Vets_Vs_Trump