Faithwire
  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • News
  • Politics
  • Coronavirus Updates
  • Faith
  • Opinion
  • Christmas
  • Set Free Course

Granddaughter of Vietnam Vet Shares Grandfather’s Powerful Story After AOC Says It’s ‘Impossible’ to Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps

Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images
Share Tweet
By Tré Goins-Phillips
Editor

February 6, 2020

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) was right when she said the metaphor “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” — popular in conservative circles — is a physical impossibility. That doesn’t mean it’s impossible for people to elevate themselves out of poverty, though.

Pete Buttigieg Refuses to Draw Line on Partial-Birth Abortion

Lyndsey Fifield, social media director for The Heritage Foundation, used Ocasio-Cortez’s speech, which she gave in defense of her Recognizing Poverty Act, to point out that people have, in fact, escaped poverty with hard work and determination.

Here’s Fifield’s story:

He worked. Hard.

He loved watching planes flying near the city when he grew up and dreamed of becoming a pilot.

So he joined the U.S. Air Force and trained to become a pilot.

He served in Vietnam flying dangerous combat missions—was shot down and rescued…

— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) February 6, 2020

They married and had three kids and they took all of them to Okinawa during the war. She was THE QUEEN of military spouses—comforting grieving widows while praying she wouldn't become one, connecting family and entertaining/welcoming everyone into their home.

— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) February 6, 2020

He continued to work hard and died comfortably surrounded by a massive family—his true treasure.

Every time I see this picture I think "he made that." He made this.

He came from nothing and now all of us exist because of it. pic.twitter.com/fl9I5Zv5AH

— Lyndsey Fifield (@lyndseyfifield) February 6, 2020

Fifield said it’s important to share stories like her grandfather’s, because people need to know Ocasio-Cortez is wrong to suggest it’s impossible to escape poverty.

Of course, Ocasio-Cortez herself should know this. Her story — parts of which are heartrending — is proof of the successes one can find in this country. At 18 years old, Ocasio-Cortez lost her father to stage-four lung cancer, plummeting her family into a tragic new normal. Her mother was a domestic worker, and as a young adult, Ocasio-Cortez was a bartender. Now, at 30 years old, she’s a member of the U.S. House of Representatives and a political celebrity.

Tim Tebow Shares Top Night to Shine 2020 Moments and It’s Every Bit as Beautiful as You’d Expect

Ocasio-Cortez has achieved a lot of success in her young life, and much if it is the result of her parents’ hard work, her own hard work, and the access she has had in American culture.

“Let’s be mad at people who spread the lie that you can’t do or become anything you want in this country,” Fifield concluded. “Imagine how many children hear that today and believe it.”

Latest

  • News

    ‘Miracle’ Landing: Florida Pilot Passes Out — Passenger with No Flight Experience Takes Over with ‘Hand of God’

  • Entertainment

    Marvel’s ‘Scarlet Witch’ Actress Reveals Her Real-Life Connections to Witchcraft, Says She’s ‘Witchy’

  • News

    ‘A Psychological Prison’: Taliban’s Latest Demand Leaves Women in Tears as Afghanistan Reels in Poverty, Desperation

  • News

    New Warner/Discovery President ‘Un-Cancels’ JK Rowling After She Was Sidelined for Defending Women Amid Transgender Craze

  • Life

    ‘A God Thing’: They Adopted a Severely Handicapped Baby Despite Doctors’ Warnings, and It Changed Everything


Navigation

  • Watch
  • Go!
  • Podcasts
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Staff
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Sign up to get our newsletter your inbox every day.

Newsletter Signup

Do you want to read
more articles like this?