Hey, it's a free country. They're your kids, so you can ruin them however you want.

But the rest of us have to live with them too. And we're frustrated by what we see: weak, pasty little boys, some of whom are still that way long past the date they start shaving. They've learned well what you've taught them — to be careful. To avoid risk. To sit quietly on the couch like a cute little toy poodle and stay far away from anything that makes them uncomfortable.

Just play your video game and don't make too much noise, kid. That's a good boy.

Never mind that boy will someday need to provide for himself and others. Never mind that the world won't be as sensitive to his fears and preferences as you have been.

Never mind that somewhere, outside the safe little cocoon of comfort you've built in your air-conditioned, HEPA-filtered home, there are boys who sleep in the dirt every night, go days without eating, and do hard manual labor in the harshest conditions — and for them, it's not even hardship. It's just life. And those boys are being taught to despise everything America stands for.

They're being taught we're decadent. They're right.

They're being taught we're immoral. And we are.

They know we're raising weak sons and promiscuous daughters. And they fully intend to one day destroy our culture and replace it with their own.

This is not a hypothetical. I've seen these young men, from Syria to Afghanistan to North Africa. They don't love America. They desire her. And they'll come and ravage her if we let them.

Like it or not, our sons may one day have to go toe to toe with those hardscrabble boys who grew up with nothing. When that day comes, will your pudgy, pasty-faced little prince win that fight?

Not every boy will grow up to be a warrior. But some boys must. It's essential that America turns out enough hard men to defend our way of life. Your safe, comfortable, Netflix-and-chardonnay existence depends on it.

Old warriors like me are getting used up. We're getting too broken to hold the line forever. We need more young men who are tough, capable, and morally straight. Is your boy one of those — or is he too busy with Minecraft and manga to become the man America needs him to be? Let me be very frank: raised the way most boys are raised today, he'll be a liability.

Boys were made for manhood. Men are meant to protect, provide, and fiercely love those under their care. It's a tough job. Whether or not he ever meets America's enemies, as I have, on the field of battle, he'll still need to be tough. The job of father, husband, and provider demands a mental — and sometimes physical — toughness your son may never acquire if you don't take him off the Cheeto diet and make him uncomfortable.

The Constructive Application of Misery

Good parenting comes down to this: the constructive application of misery in a young man's life to produce character. If you think the job is to keep your son far from anything dangerous, keep him comfy, and make sure he has plenty of fun, you're part of the problem.

Give a young man controlled doses of stress. Let him operate without a net once in a while. Let him learn to be afraid — then teach him he can face that fear and conquer it. Give him purposeful work. Give him discipline, and plenty of it. Don't let him set the agenda. Somebody has to prepare him to lead.

The problem is, most fathers know this in their gut and still don't have the tools, the time, or the tribe to pull it off alone. A boy needs more than one good man in his corner. He needs a place built to forge him.

That's what we're building. And that's where you come in.

A Permanent Home for the Forge

The Frontier Forge Institute exists to do one thing: turn out good men. Men of faith, capable with their hands, useful in a crisis, and grounded in something bigger than themselves. We've proven the model in the field. Now we have a chance to give it a permanent home — and to scale it from a week into a full year.

There's a building in Mount Hope, West Virginia called the Eisenhower Building — the former U.S. Mine Safety and Health Academy. The federal government put it up in 1958 to train the nation's mine-safety instructors, and they built it to a standard nobody can afford to build to today: block and brick, room after room, made to house and teach hundreds of students at a time.

It's 34,000 square feet. 64 classrooms. A cavernous garage that's practically begging to become a working trades shop. It sits right next to a disused football stadium that makes a ready-made PT field, and it's minutes from the Summit Bechtel Reserve, where the Boy Scouts bring tens of thousands of young people every year. It was practically built for what God has put on our hearts to do.

It listed at $690,000 two years ago. We can acquire it today for under $300,000. That window will not stay open forever.

What It Becomes

Once we own it, that building becomes the Appalachian Leadership & Training Academy — a one-year residential program for motivated young men straight out of high school, modeled on proven academies like the International ALERT Academy in Big Sandy, Texas.

A young man arrives the fall after graduation and spends twelve months living, working, worshiping, and training alongside mentors of proven character. He leaves with three things:

Godly wisdom. A full year immersed in Scripture, discipleship, and the daily habits of a man of character. That's the foundation. Everything else is built on it.

First-responder skills. Real, certifiable training in emergency medicine, rescue, and readiness — so he can run toward trouble and serve his neighbors instead of filming it.

A marketable trade. Hands-on mastery of a skill — electrical, plumbing, welding, HVAC, automotive — so he walks out with a livelihood in his hands and can support a family for life.

Faith deepened. Body hardened. A certification and a trade. That's the kind of man this country is starving for, and this building is where we'll forge him.

This Is Where You Come In

The goal was never a building. The goal is to build men. But the building is where it begins — we have to own the property before any of the rest of it can happen. Every gift moves us closer to the deed, and to the first young man who walks through those doors.

Our goal is $350,000 to acquire the campus and open the doors. We've already got the first $50,000 in hand. We need people who understand what's at stake to help us cover the rest — now, while the price is low and the door is open.

The Frontier Forge Institute is a program of the James Megellas Foundation, a registered 501(c)(3). Your gift is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

See the building, the plan, and how to give here: frontierforge.org/vision

You can keep raising muffins if you want. We are going to forge men. Come help.

"Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong." — 1 Corinthians 16:13

Friend,

I want to share something we're praying and working hard toward.

In Mount Hope, West Virginia stands the Eisenhower Building — the former U.S. Mine Academy. The federal government built it in 1958 and spent decades maintaining it: 34,000 square feet, 64 classrooms, a cavernous garage, and a football stadium right next door that would make a ready-made training field. Today it sits empty.

We intend to change that.

Our vision is to turn this building into the Appalachian Leadership & Training Academy — a one-year residential academy for young men straight out of high school. A place that forms them in three things at once: godly wisdom, first-responder skills, and a marketable trade — electrical, plumbing, welding, HVAC, automotive. A young man would arrive the fall after graduation and leave twelve months later with his faith deepened, his body and character tested, a first-responder certification, and a skilled trade that can support a family for life.

Here's the opportunity: the building was listed at $690,000 two years ago. Because the seller is motivated, we can acquire it today for under $300,000. But we have to own it before any of the rest can happen — and that's where you come in.

We've already raised $20,000 toward our $350,000 Building Fund goal. Every gift moves us closer to the deed, and to the first young man who walks through those doors.

🔗 See the full vision and give here: https://www.frontierforge.org/vision

The goal is not a building. The goal is to build men. Would you help us build it?

Gratefully,

Chuck Holton

Founder, Frontier Forge Institute

Frontier Forge Institute is a program of the James Megellas Foundation, Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN 27-3047777). Your gift is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

Happy Independence Day! 🇺🇸 As America celebrates 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, I want to revisit a remarkable speech that almost nobody remembers. In 1839, John Quincy Adams—son of a signer of the Declaration and America's sixth president—explained what he believed was the true foundation of the American republic. His message wasn't about military power or politics. It was about God, virtue, liberty, and the character of the American people. As we celebrate our nation's birthday, his warning may be more relevant today than ever.