THE OATH I TOOK — Blue Wave Revival When I enlisted in the United States Army at 17, I raised my right hand and swore an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. Not a man. Not a president. Not a political party. The Constitution. After two tours in Vietnam and a lifetime of carrying the scars of military service, that oath still means as much to me today as it did when I first took it.

"The Oath I Took" is deeply personal. It's about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and the constitutional rights that generations of American service members have sworn to defend. I didn't serve my country so that any president, regardless of political party, could decide which journalists are allowed to ask questions or which Americans are allowed to speak their minds. A free press has the right to question those in power, even when those questions make them uncomfortable. That's part of the freedom we served to protect.

Through Blue Wave Revival, I want to remind Americans that our loyalty belongs to the Constitution and the principles it represents, not to whoever happens to occupy the White House. I took that oath at 17. I fought for it in Vietnam. And more than five decades later, I still stand by it. — Rick Gaspa