Chad W Porter

Bring it and don't bring it weak...

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@punt_rd Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck!!!!

[Mary Katharine Ham @mkhammer]

This is absolutely lovely. Please listen. Dang you @ericchurch for making me homesick on a Thursday morning.

[Spurs Lead @SpursLead]

The Minnesota Timberwolves are defending the Spurs like this and still get the fouls in their favor 😭😭😭😭

[Ben H. English @BenHEnglish]

MORE ON A PHYSICAL BORDER WALL

This is a letter being sent to my state and federal representatives, senators, governor and president, as well as involved state and federal agencies.

Please feel free to share, or to use this as a rough draft for your own document.

This battle is far from over, and so is the war.

God bless to all,

Ben

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I never conceived that there could be such a country. The guide says he could have brought us a little nearer route, but that it would have been rougher. I cannot conceive it possible. I cheerfully concur with all who regard this region as impassable.”

--Lieutenant William H. Echols, U.S. Army, July of 1860, while exploring the lower Big Bend

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Greetings,

The above quotation straight from official military records helps paint a picture of what I am about to speak of.

My family has been in Texas over two hundred years, and since 1861 have lived within a hundred miles of the Rio Grande. Mostly pioneers, cowboys, cattlemen and peace officers, some six generations have called the Big Bend their home.

I was mostly raised in this country myself, and other than seven years of service in the Marines and in going to college, have maintained the same close kinship as my ancestors did all those years ago.

Since retiring as a peace officer, I have authored a half dozen books concerning this region and have worked with the National Park Service, the Texas Rangers, the Border Patrol and the FBI involving missing hikers, cold murder cases and other ongoing investigations.

It has been said I know a thing or two about the lower Big Bend and this river, as well as the adjoining sections of Chihuahua and Coahuila.

That being said, I am utterly appalled at the suggestion of a physical wall most anywhere between Amistad Lake and Fort Quitman. I can only shake my head at whoever thought this was a good idea, and idly wonder whatever led them to make an ill-informed decision.

Evidently they have never driven the sections of road running on our side of the river, flown over it, ridden the area by horseback or mule, or certainly never covered it on foot.

In fact, I seriously doubt they have even taken a look at topographical maps of these borderlands, or done any background whatsoever into its history.

Along with the ecological, geological, archaeological, environmental, historical and legal disasters this madcap escapade would bring upon the state of Texas, there is the monumental cost in construction and upkeep that would never end.

There are massive creeks emptying into the river which begin some eighty miles away, fed by mountain ranges all along. When they come down, no one can imagine their force and power unless personally experienced.

Suffice to say that damage or a breaching to such a structure would be a given.

But this alone does not begin to cover other points and concerns:

I have personally read letters addressed to Texas land owners that translate more like a royal decree from some petty European potentate, addressing them as if they were little more than ignorant serfs.

Whatever the reason for this, it could never be sustainable other than portraying our own government as a gaggle of self-serving bullies intent upon demeaning those who they are supposedly representing. While at the same time, ceding thousands of acres of privately owned land to a foreign and sometimes hostile power.

If that does not rankle one’s patriotism and sense of fair play, I have no idea what might.

Beyond is the real possibility that political, economic and sociological norms will change, where a physical wall would no longer be needed.

What do we do then?

I am not against a physical barrier in certain situations, but one cannot just pick up such an obstacle and move it someplace else, or destroy it in place.

I am very much strong for border security but also for private property rights, as well as the individual rights of my fellow citizens. The history of Texas is printed out boldly, with the blood of heroes who fought and sometimes died to secure those sacred gifts to our shared posterity.

Please explain to me why families, law abiding and contributing American citizens, are being forced out of their generational homes when other, far more effective means are available to secure our borders?

In closing, I mentioned prior my reputed familiarity with this region. In that, I will gladly donate my time, efforts and knowledge in guiding any responsible party to better educate them in what is at stake.

I believe that in one day, I can illustrate why a physical wall in this situation would be a fool’s errand that would echo with shame throughout our generations.

My contact information follows below.

May God bless America and the Great State of Texas,

Ben H. English
Alpine, Texas

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

COMING EVENTS:

FORT STOCKTON, TX, March 28, 10a-4p Living History Days at Historic Fort Stockton.

https://t.co/MCM0IXBeGu

ODESSA, TX, April 14 (8a-5p) April 15 (8a-4p) 2026 Big Bend Area Law Enforcement Officer’s Association Conference (BBALEOA) at the @MCM Elegante Hotel. I will have a table there to sign books, sell books, or just to visit.

https://t.co/7CG4HhYnop

https://t.co/RqDnIC6H1J

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

USMC: 1976-1983
THP: 1986-2008
HS Teacher: 2008-2010

Author of ‘Yonderings’
‘Destiny’s Way’
‘Out There: Essays on the Lower Big Bend’
‘The Uvalde Raider’
‘Black And White: Tales of the Texas Highway Patrol’
‘¡Cristeros!’

Facebook: Ben H. English
Webpage: https://t.co/dRL9RoJxGW
X: Ben H. English

‘Graying but still game’

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@RichOToole You should add beans😀.

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@BenHEnglish It was great meeting you on Saturday at the cook-off. I look forward to reading “Yonderings”.

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@punt_rd Vulgar

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@ThrillaRilla369

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@m_uzo21 Very sad. RIP.

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@ThatEricAlper The Tea Party

[(((Matthew Lewis))) cults & consequences @mateosfo]

Just saw Ezra and Derek do the book gig in San Francisco.

This thing has legs. I can tell why they're packing so many halls across the country -- and why the guardians of stasis are so freaked out.

An incredible event and moment.

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@michaelschwab13 Yankee fan tears.

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@ThatEricAlper Barney Miller

[Kassy Akiva @KassyAkiva]

Reminder: Hamas is holding 6 Americans hostage.

Edan Alexander
Itay Chen
Sagui Dekel-Chen
Gadi Haggai
Judi Weinstein Haggai
Omer Neutra

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@cchooks Every Phillies fan knows…

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@punt_rd

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@hughhewitt - at least you have Ohio State.

[Karen Kasler @karenkasler]

Reminds me of the joke about how Cleveland Browns stadium is the safest place during a tornado because there’s no chance of a touchdown there

[Karen Kasler @karenkasler]

Reminds me of the joke about how Cleveland Browns stadium is the safest place during a tornado because there’s no chance of a touchdown there

[Chad W Porter @ChadWPorter73]

@punt_rd NIN - Pretty Hate Machine

[Vintage Rock N’ Roll 🎸 @RockNRoLL_85]

“Becoming Led Zeppelin” Trailer
Documentary / February 7, 2025🙌🏻