Historians have long asked whether troubled times create great leaders or if great leaders were simply there all along, awaiting the chance to stand out. I have always thought the Gary Cooper hero in High Noon was more accurate. That hero had grown quietly over a lifetime, so his character was there ready and waiting to do what was right despite the odds. The villains in that tale just showed him for who he already was. President Donald Trump’s (R) reaction—his fist raised and the words “fight, fight, fight” bellowing from him—after the first assassination attempt was such a moment. Trump’s character had been built over a lifetime and so came roaring through at a time of great peril.
Interestingly, on that stage was another man whose character has been tested and has grown in a very American way. His name is JD Longo. He served in the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan. He is now the mayor of Slippery Rock, Pa. We bring him into these pages because he is a poignant example of an individual who stands against the politically correct mainstream to lead us toward freedom.
A1F: I’ve looked at your résumé and I find it to be a hero’s journey of sorts. You served your nation overseas and then came home, saw problems in your hometown, and ran for mayor to fix them.
Longo: When I joined Army Junior ROTC, I joined their marksmanship team. That’s when I started to understand just how deeply ingrained marksmanship and the use of rifles and pistols is to our history as Americans. After high school, I went into the United States Marine Corps, where I enlisted as an infantry rifleman. Of course, I got all sorts of exposure to firearms then. I was 17 years old when I joined the Corps. I turned 18 on Paris Island, South Carolina. The Marines are a lasting brotherhood. That experience shaped me.
A1F: You served in Afghanistan. What role did you play over there?
Longo: I spent six years in the United States Marine Corps. I was in Afghanistan from September 2010 to March of 2011. I served in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in the Global War on Terror as an infantry rifleman. We conducted plenty of presence patrols. We did some combat operations, of course. But the thing that I enjoyed the most was trying to be the ambassador of goodwill and the protector of the downtrodden and the disenfranchised there. I spent a lot of time in the regimental quick-reaction force, which meant that I got to operate in a 150-square-kilometer area of operations—mostly situated in the southwest corner of Afghanistan.
It was commonplace that the fighters of the Taliban were cowardly; they knew that they couldn’t stand toe-to-toe with Marines. And so, they liked to take potshots and then run and hide. They did have some dangerous snipers.
We would oftentimes help to protect convoys that were bringing things like school supplies or fertilizer or food or even medical equipment to places in impoverished Afghanistan. But, of course, at the end of the day, our main mission was to make sure the enemy knew we were there.
A1F: It must have driven you crazy when you saw what former President Joe Biden (D) did as he pulled our troops out?
Longo: Absolutely. Let me start by saying that if any of us were to have let one weapon carelessly fall into enemy hands, it’s quite possible our career in the United States military would have been over. So, the fact that they left billions of dollars’ worth of equipment behind for our enemies to use, including so many firearms which are going to be turned against us and against our allies in the region, really hurts me. But nothing hurts more than the idea that so many made sacrifices, but that these sacrifices were disrespected by the Biden administration.
The thing that really sticks with me more than anything is I got the opportunity to meet the parents of the Marines and sailors who died at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan during the botched pullout. Getting to look them in the eyes still shakes me.
But I think it’s really important that, despite all of that, we’re making sure we’re telling those people and all of the many people who served in Afghanistan and Iraq that their service was not in vain, because at the end of the day, we did exactly what we were tasked with doing. We were ambassadors of goodwill. We were great representatives of the freedoms and the liberties that we enjoy. I think that is going to continue to inspire and instill a sense of hope in generations of Afghanis and Iraqis.
A1F: Right, I don’t think the struggle for freedom is ever in vain. We may win, we may lose and fall backward, but I don’t feel like it’s in vain. Good things come out of it. And, more recently, it was very heartening to hear President Donald Trump mention that they’d caught the lead terrorist in that attack.
Longo: I jumped off the couch when I heard that. I’m almost not even surprised that, during the State of the Union speech, the Democrats decided that this capture was not worth standing up and clapping for. I just think that, no matter what your disagreements are with the president or with the Republican Party, surely we can all agree as Americans united under our Star-Spangled Banner, that was a good thing.
A1F: You came home after carrying arms overseas and you decided to run for mayor. What led to that?
Longo: Anybody can tell you who owns property, that when you start paying property taxes, you really start paying attention to the things that your local government and your school board are doing. And so, when I decided to put a down payment on a house in downtown Slippery Rock and to enroll in Slippery Rock University, where I would go on to earn a bachelor’s in history and a master’s in education, I realized that my property taxes had been raised twice—almost 20% in just a five-year period—and yet our roads were still terrible.
We didn’t have a 24/7 police department, and you couldn’t get anyone on the phone at the borough office if you ever needed anything. And so, I thought to myself: Why is it that we’re paying these exorbitant taxes if our constituent services aren’t matching up?
The local government we had was also opposed to our right to keep and bear arms. They were not in step with American freedom.
So, I ran for mayor and I won. I’m glad to say that we haven’t raised property taxes in the seven years since I took office.
A1F: The Second Amendment is such a keystone issue that, when you meet someone who’s pro-freedom, pro-Second Amendment, they tend to be judicious across many other areas of their politics. Have you found that to be true?
Longo: I think you’re absolutely right. I have definitely witnessed that myself. I think it’s because the protectors and defenders of the Second Amendment are by definition protectors and defenders of the U.S. Constitution.
Time and again, I hear people on the left side of the aisle say that the Constitution is a living, breathing document that they can just change on a whim. To that, I say baloney. What I’m trying to say is that if you and I respect the Second Amendment of the Constitution, it means that we actually hold dear and, in fact, hold sacred and holy our U.S. Bill of Rights.
A1F: You were on the stage in Butler, Pa., when that assassin tried to kill President Trump. Tell us about that.
Longo: I was there that day. I’ve been very blessed to help in the campaigns of the president. I got to speak on quite a few stages and to serve as a surrogate for the Trump campaign. I even went on to become an elector for President Trump and Vice President JD Vance.
On July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa.—which is less than 20 miles away from my home of Slippery Rock—I was asked to give a few remarks and to lead that rally in our most honored Pledge of Allegiance, which is one of my favorite things to do as a veteran and as a proud American.
After speaking, I was escorted backstage with my wife, who was nine weeks pregnant at the time. We got to speak with the president and to have a good conversation with him. I told him, “Mr. President. We’re working very hard for you, sir, and Butler County is going to deliver Pennsylvania for you so that we can get you back to the White House.”
About 20 minutes later, he took the stage. He walked up to his podium and this awful lunatic decided to murder him. Unfortunately, a hero firefighter, Corey Comperatore, was seated directly behind us. The would-be assassin killed this hero and wounded others before being stopped.
But, despite the horror and the awful sadness of that situation, President Trump showed such incredible resolve. He showed in that moment that he’s the leader that this nation needs. I saw him raise his fist in defiance of that moment to let us all know that he was safe and that he wasn’t going to stop. And then, of course, he said those fabled words: “Fight, fight, fight.” It was just an incredible piece of history to witness firsthand.
The other thing that stood out to me was the fact that nobody in the crowd seemed to panic at all. It was almost as if there was no fear. A lot of it was shock. But, you know, if it weren’t for President Trump’s resolve, I think that people would have panicked.
A1F: So, going forward, how do you see freedom in Pennsylvania and across this nation? Are you hopeful?
Longo: I’m more hopeful now than ever, after the momentum that we gained in 2024 in getting President Trump and Vice President Vance to Washington to lead this country in the right direction. Seeing Pennsylvania vote for freedom makes me even more hopeful.
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