For decades mainstream Americans have been wondering where our heroes have gone, where are the people with the strength, moxie and ability to stand up to anarchists, communists and other terrorists, and expose the lies of the American Terrorist Media.

It seems that every time we get a glimmer of hope in a new personality, someone who will tell the truth and act on truthful principles rather than me-first power grabs, they shine briefly, then fade just as quickly. That may well be due to the duplicity of some who crave the media limelight to such an extent that they will quickly and easily roll over on their principles and most especially their supporters, when selling out becomes a requirement for staying on the national stage.

But every so often we find one person, or more accurately, one of a small group, who defies the norm and stands up for what is right, not just for a few days or months, but permanently.

Now, let me tell you about Melanie Morgan. She is well known from the editorial heights of the New York Times to the streets of San Francisco, she is a daily target for the far, far left, and, along with a small but powerful group of friends and allies she is the real deal on the American political scene. The left hates her, but fears her ability to speak and out-debate their champions.

Her willingness to stand up for a noble cause was clear from the very first word she spoke on the speakers' platform at the Gathering of Eagles vigil in Washington, DC on March 17. She was there to stand shoulder to shoulder with the veterans to secure our national monuments from threatened defacement by anarchist marchers that day, and to show solidarity with our troops.

But she was also there to speak out, fearlessly, clearly, and forcefully. She had no qualms whatsoever about getting right down to it about Cindy Sheehan and Jane Fonda. She did not mince words or feelings, and the crowd warmed to her message and her style immediately.

But here comes the good part. After she was finished speaking and acting as co-emcee for the formal GOE program, Melanie left the stage and marched straight down to Henry Bacon Drive on the far side of the Vietnam Memorial, in the shadow of Abe Lincoln's statue. There, thousands of veterans and our supporters were letting the pro-terrorist marchers on the Pentagon, who had gathered on the other side of the street, know that a new day had come to America, and the free ride of vandalism, veteran bashing, and undermining the troops was over.

A Demilitarized Zone of sorts had formed with the pro-terrorists on one side, highly visible in photos from the scene by the plethora of yellow signs they carried. On the other side were veterans and our supporters, just as visible from the plethora of American flags that were streaming proudly in the stiff breeze.

Melanie could have stayed inside a warm vehicle or tent, or just stayed home, blaming the previous day's storm and the cold wind that morning in DC, like many of the headliners for the pro-terrorist march had done. But she went to the front line, bullhorn in hand, and immediately took on the sloganeers and myopes on the other side of that DMZ.

She immediately let them know that their shrinking violets and me-first anti-American media darlings were outnumbered, outgunned and outmatched.

So, by now you are asking, what makes her any different than the legions of others who have grabbed the headlines for a few days or months, claiming to speak for the great Middle America, only to shrink back into obscurity, with the only difference being their suddenly increased net worth?

History. Her history.

Melanie Morgan has a history, one that many wannabes can't even envision.

She was raised in the mid-west in a family that is left, liberal and Democrat. Her background is one that would make Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi drool, well, drool even more than they do now.

But after leaving home for college, and graduating as a journalist, she began to see the world in a different light.

Melanie started her broadcasting career when she was 16, working at her college radio station, KCLC FM, in St. Charles, MO, followed by an internship at KUDL AM/FM in her hometown of Kansas City, MO, then work at several radio stations in Kansas City. She began her television career as a researcher for ABC TV's Howard K. Smith, during the 1976 Republican Convention.

In 1980, Melanie went to work for KMBC, Channel 9 in Kansas City as a television reporter and anchor. She moved to San Francisco Bay area in 1981 and began working for KGO television as a freelance reporter. KGO Radio fully recognized Melanie's talents when she stepped forward to provide three weeks of award-winning on-the-scene coverage of the war in Beirut, Lebanon.

Her reporting from such dangerous hot spots enabled her to see for herself what was happening, rather than relying on an established media that reports only what fits its pre-ordained agenda.

When the Marine Barracks was bombed and hundreds died, she was on the lines with the 8th Marines, learning first-hand about the asinine Rules of Engagement that required them to patrol with rifles unloaded in the midst of a vicious enemy-controlled environment.

She went into the hills in search of Yasser Arafat, to interview him directly, and find for herself what he really was all about. She ended up with a Syrian soldier's gun barrel pressed against her temple - payback for being a foreign journalist on sacred ground and, horror of horrors, a woman to boot.

You might have expected her to call it quits after that, but she didn't.

She continued to work at her craft, and continued to speak out - so much so that politics is a taboo subject when she goes home for a visit.

Melanie works with the Russo Marsh & Rogers public relations firm especially on political campaigns for conservative candidates; she ran "Truth Tours" to Iraq to provide mainstream Americans another view of that war, one not pre-edited by the mainstream media.

She was right in the middle of the movement to recall California Gov. Gray Davis, and from that effort became chairwoman of Move America Forward, which has taken on Cindy Sheehan and lent its considerable communications prowess to the Gathering of Eagles vigil. Morgan is a frequent guest on Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, NBC, ABC, and CBS, she has appeared on the BBC and in newspapers and broadcasts worldwide.

She spearheaded the 'You Don't Speak for Me, Cindy!' tour along with Blue Star Marine mom Deborah Johns, who appeared with her in DC, she is a columnist for WorldNetDaily, and co-author with Catherine Moy of the book American Mourning: The Intimate Story of Two Families Joined by War, Torn by Beliefs.

In the midst of this whirlwind of activity she also is a devoted wife and mother, and here is one of the great secrets of her devotion to the troops and freedom. She is known to pour thousands of dollars of her own money into the causes that need her, in addition to not taking payment for her efforts. She draws no salary from Move America Forward for instance.

Why? Well this may seem simplistic in today's media environment but she is absolutely fierce in her determination that today's generation of veterans "will never go through what the Vietnam Veterans did."

She sees far too many comparisons between Vietnam and the War on Terror, all in the area of the media misreporting or ignoring the military successes, while attempting to foster an aura of doom and defeatism that will lead to premature withdrawal and another tragedy such as occurred in Southeast Asia when the communists slaughtered millions of innocents.

"I consider it my responsibility to speak for people who aren't on TV, aren't on the radio and don't have a column."

She has no use whatsoever for Rules of Engagement in a war where the other side has no rules. "They need to kill people and break things," she says of our troops, not be hamstrung by politics.

She realizes that much of what she does will never endear her to a certain segment of the American political scene. When the New York Times revealed secret tactics and programs America was using in the War on Terror, she called for editor Bill Keller to be tried and face execution if convicted.

The left reacted with feigned horror, but many Middle Americans agreed with her.

One might expect that with all of her background and commitment that she would be a frequent visitor to the White House or a trusted ally to administration heavyweights. Wrong!

"I don't have Karl Rove's number on my speed dial, I don't even know it, or his email address for that matter," she notes. And, like many other Americans, she wonders why the administration is so lacking when it comes to getting the truth out to Middle America, when so much of what the left is reporting comes down to sound bites, political rhetoric or outright lies.

She is used to being a target for the left, and discounts virtually all of the barbs thrown at her from that side. "We have ignorant and ill-prepared people dictating the reporting on Iraq," Melanie states.

But she also reveals that she has been discouraged by some of the things said by others who claim to share her political beliefs. "It is most hurtful when your own side criticizes you."

In that vein, it also was noticed all across the veteran spectrum that many of the people we regularly see on TV, claiming to support the troops and speak for Middle America, were nowhere to be found on March 17 at the Gathering of Eagles vigil. It was noted all across that same spectrum that the majority of the media coverage focused on the pro-terrorist marchers and virtually ignored the GOE even though our turnout far exceeded the other side.

But it was also noticed the Melanie Morgan was there, along with Deborah Johns, syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin, and a solid core of Americans who are fed up with our country being bashed, undermined and sold out. The media darlings and politicians, with the exception of California Congressman John T. Doolittle, all had something else to do that day.

But Melanie Morgan was there that day, visible, engaged and effective. And you can expect to see her continue to advocate for America and its military for, well, as she puts it, "As long as I have a breath left in my body."