I first learned
about John Kriesel through my friend and fellow Mason, Steve Johnson. John’s in-laws were both active in Masonry
and Eastern Star. Steve had told me
about that John had been severely wounded while serving our country in Iraq –
he had lost both legs in an IED explosion.[i] Steve Johnson was Grand Master at the time,
and fulfilled Kriesel’s wish to become a Mason by arranging for him to be made
a Mason “at sight”.
One of my
favorite stories of Sgt. Kriesel’s recovery was a visit that Minnesota Governor
Tim Pawlenty paid him in the hospital.
When the Governor asked Kriesel what job he would seek when he
recovered, the reply was, “Yours.”
It appeared
that John Kriesel was on his way to that goal when he was elected to the
Minnesota House of Representatives in 2010.
Republicans controlled both houses of the legislature while Democrat
Mark Dayton was Governor. Knowing that
bills passed by the legislature could and would be vetoed by the Governor, the
majority decided that they could only enact their agenda by submitting matters
to the voters by way of constitutional amendments, which did not need the
Governor’s signature.
One of the
amendments that was proposed was one to define marriage as a union between one
man and one woman. Republicans supported
the amendment and Democrats opposed it.
With two
exceptions: State Representative John
Kriesel and one other Republican representative, facing near certain political
suicide, voted against the amendment.
Kriesel’s
impassioned floor speech against the amendment is a classic example of moral
courage:
"I
was in an incident, I nearly died. I remember laying there, looking down and
seeing my legs mangled and pretty much guaranteeing that I was done, I was a done
deal. I thought that's where my life was going to end," said Kriesel.
"I remember thinking of my wife and my kids. That's what crossed my mind.
And that's what kept me fighting. The love I have for them. It woke me up, it
changed me. And as bad as that day sucked, I've learned a lot from it and it's
changed who I am for the better. Because of that, it's made me think about this
issue and say you know what? What would I do without my wife? She makes me
happy. Life is hard. We're in a really tough time in our history. Really
tough time. Happiness is so, so hard to find for people. So they find it. They
find someone that makes them happy and we want to take that person away. We
want to say, 'Oh, no you can be together, you can love that person, but you can't
marry them. You can't marry them.' That's wrong. That's wrong and I disagree
with it."
Outside
the chamber, protestors against the amendment were chanting, "Love will
prevail."
"Hear
that out there? That's the America I fought for and I'm proud of that,"
Kriesel said. "And when my grandkids look at me and they say, 'Grandpa,
where did you stand on this issue?' I'll be proud to look at them and say, 'You
know what? I was on the right side of history. I was on the right side of
history."[ii]
You really
can’t say anything more.
[i] For a good read on John Kriesel’s
story, see Still Standing, John Kriesel and Jim Kosmo (2010 Beaver’s Pond
Press)
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