August 2, 2018 500 AM
Hello, I am Ruben Rodriguez, still known by my 1970s Air Force NORAD call sign “Radar”. I was born in Corpus Christi, Texas to Catholic parents who immigrated long before President Lyndon Johnson’s welfare and government programs were put into place.
My parents struggled, became proud naturalized citizens and established a successful photography business. This was my first experience where I was ingrained with a full-responsibility, always on-the-clock work ethic. During my Air Force years came my first doubts about my generic Democrat upbringing. I was puzzled: Why did Jimmy Carter cancel the magnificent B-1 Bomber program? In the 28 years that followed, I worked as a Sheriff’s Dispatcher, Deputy, Sergeant, and eventually as a Liaison co-pilot (TFO) aboard DPS helicopters. I even flew airborne escorts of Vice President Dick Cheney’s motorcades during his hunting trips to South Texas.
During the Reagan years, I became pro-life after the birth of my beautiful daughter and became involved in pro-life events. Noticing a gap, I formed a unique pro-life police organization called Officers for Life, which attracted members nationwide. I received letters or calls of support from Chartlon Heston, Bob Dornan, Gov. Bob Casey, Nellie Gray and Judie Brown, among others. Our group remained active until 1995, and our activities during those years brought my attention to the pervasive media bias against conservative viewpoints and made me actually aware of the many problems inherent in traditional Democratic positions. Particularly troublinh was their strong opposition at that time to the proposed Concealed Handgun License legislation, which I supported.
I had already begun voting as a Republican several years earlier, but when I retired from the Nueces County Sheriff’s Office and joined U.S. Customs Air Operations in 2008, my conversion was complete. My wife and I both served as Delegates from Nueces County as the GOP State Convention in Dallas in 2010 where we met Governor Rick Perry. Mike Bergsma, the current Nueces County Republican chair, is our friend and can vouch for our involvement.
Now that I am fully established as a resident of Presidio County, I intend to be deeply involved in the effort to promote conservative GOP ideals and to inject some competition into our current Democrat monopoly.
Thank you, Ruben Rodriguez
