Exactly five years ago I wrote a column “Let’s Resolve to Reward Our Wounded Warriors.” This appeal developed from discussions with Volney Steele. Vol is a retired physician who volunteered when Eagle Mount brought children to our place to fish.
 
Volney proposed that people in Bozeman develop a fly-fishing program for severely injured American troops. He helped make the original modest idea become Warriors and Quiet Waters (WQW). It’s the gold standard for programs helping America’s wounded warriors.
 
Thanks to remarkably dedicated and highly competent leadership, notably from the Hastings and O’Connor families, and generous support from the Bozeman community, WQW has succeeded far beyond our most optimistic expectations. It brings six groups of warriors, now two with spouses, to Bozeman each summer. Maintaining WQW’s quality is extremely difficult; and is both emotionally and logistically expensive. We welcome help, especially from professional fishing guides.
 
WQW’s success is possible because Americans esteem our military. Polls show that, among all institutions and professions, Americans have the most confidence in our military. Among other qualities, America’s service personnel are recognized for loyalty, perseverance, and bravery.
 
These attributes are rare among university faculty. We should thank those who show the courage to stand up. Here is a stellar example.
 
FREE hosted conferences for federal judges for twenty years, bringing some of America’s most distinguished scholars to Bozeman. We showed judges how to apply the economic way of thinking to contentious public policy issues such as climate change, illegal drugs, and endangered species.
 
Hard left groups objected to this education. With the support of George Soros and the complicity of the Washington Post, the Community Rights Council worked to censor it. Creating disinformation was one strategy. They asserted that FREE hosts, “...trips to Montana resorts where judges are wined, dined, and instructed on how and why to strike down federal environmental laws.”
 
Professor Thomas Schelling, a founder of Harvard’s Kennedy School, was a frequent speaker. When he learned of the charges against FREE, he submitted a column to the Washington Post.
 
Tom wrote, “I was disheartened to read that several distinguished judges had felt obliged to distance themselves from the Foundation by resigning from its Board of Trustees.... This will be my ninth seminar, over a period of five years and covering seven major topics, so I am confident that I know what happens at these seminars.” He continued, “I have ... never witnessed anything that an observer could interpret as remotely corresponding to that characterization.”
 
Few academics will take such a public stand. Although the Post didn’t publish Tom’s column (this was before he won a Nobel Prize) the Bozeman Chronicle did.
 
While Professor Schelling correctly observed that several judges left FREE’s board when attacked, one stayed and fought. He is Danny Boggs of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. He was a Harvard student of Professor Schelling and they met again at several FREE conferences.
 
Danny contested complaints seeking his dismissal from FREE’s Board through the arduous federal judicial process. This procedure is designed to deal with claimed conflicts of interest. Judge James Loken opined that, “[T]hese allegations typify the character assassination that is all too common in our Nation’s Capital, much of it intended to further the accuser’s legislative agenda.”
 
The attacks failed and, at the end of this year, Judge Boggs leaves FREE’s Board on his own accord with a legacy of courage, perseverance, and loyalty. Judges Joy Clement of the Fifth and Alice Batchelder of the Sixth circuits carry the legacy forward.
 
America and many individual Americans face difficult times. Our problems have political and cultural causes. Any successful resolutions require courage, perseverance, and loyalty to the ideals that fostered American success.
 
Let’s celebrate the virtues in America’s military—and high character and integrity elsewhere. Resolve in the New Year to recognize such behavior. Volney Steele, Tom Schelling, and Judge Danny Boggs exemplify it. Join in making it contagious.