On July 6, 1987, President Ronald Reagan addressed the Kiwanis International Convention and warned that America’s way of life based on freedom is fragile.  

Our system of government of the people with a constitution embedded with provisions protecting citizen rights to free worship, speak one’s opinion, and pursue one’s destiny has worked well for 250 years.  

Compare what we have to that in which people in China, Russia, and Iran have and you have to wonder if American voters espousing socialism, communism, and oppression have studied about the failed history they vocalize.

For example, following the Bolshevik seizure of power in the October Revolution of 1917, leaders, such as Vladimir Lenin and later Joseph Stalin, implemented sweeping policies to transform Russia into a one‑party communist state. These measures were rooted in Marxist‑Leninist ideology, aiming to end private property, centralize economic control, and set up a classless society.

The government decided on what propaganda the people received, clamped down on free speech and religion, and wrote the school curriculums. Then, in November 1989, the Berlin Wall toppled. Many Eastern European nations now have vibrant economies, where market-based governments allow consumers — not government — to decide the services and products they buy.

For the most part, Americans had not experienced war in our homeland. On Sept. 11, 2001, our world changed. The terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, were the first assaults on U.S. soil since Japan’s surprise assault on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Dec. 7, 1941. As the nation mourned and rebuilt, Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and, later, George W. Bush vowed that America would never forget.

It’s been 25 years since the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. Just a week ago, Pew Research found “many Americans remember the day with clarity: 83% of adults who were born before 2001 — including 93% of those who were 10 or older at the time — say they recall exactly where they were or what they were doing when they heard the news.”

Since the U.S. population is roughly evenly split between those born before and after 2001, the share of the total U.S. adult population that was old enough to remember 9/11 is about 41.5%, according to Pew.

When Gallup pollsters asked those championing socialism today, to explain their understanding of the term "socialism," 17% of Americans define it as government ownership of the means of production — half the number who defined it this way in 1949 when Gallup first asked about their views of the term.

Americans today are most likely to define socialism as connoting equality for everyone, while others understand the term as meaning the provision of benefits and social services, a modified form of communism, or a conception of socialism as people being social and getting along with one another, according to Gallup. About a quarter of Americans could not give an answer.

The Democrat Socialists focus on harmony, not reality. They really want to open borders unrestricted, empty jails, and defund and chastise those charged with protecting us. Unfortunately, they are taking over the Democrat Party — a political party my parents, relatives, and friends worked hard to build.  

Despite the differing approaches by Republicans and Democrats, the fundamental values of our free system have been welded together — as well they should.

We must “Never Forget” what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. We owe it to those who lost their lives, lost their loved ones, and, today, have permanent emotional and physical wounds.

Finally, we need to remember the often-spoken words of Nikita Khrushchev, who was the leader of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964. Khrushchev, known for his role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, often was quoted as suggesting that the United States would ultimately destroy itself from within, rather than through external conflict.

We also must “Never Forget” what Khrushchev preached — and never let it happen.