I was not part of the greater generation but I was part of the generation that succeeded them. Their examples and their ideals were emulated by my generation. We saw in them, courageous people who had been through so much. They had lived through the Great Depression and a terrible war of aggression against our country and came out of both victorious. Their tenacity, their courage is still talked about today because they changed the course of history for our country and the whole world. We were seen as a shining example for the rest of the world when it came to freedoms ring. Then the greater generation faded from prominence and my generation is not far behind.
Bit by bit we have wasted all of that good will we had. Today we stand on the precipice. A country the rest of the world no longer trusts or looks up to. This isn’t just about the current president who has taken a hard line stance with our neighbors on several issues. We became not just a protector but also an invader causing the destruction of Vietnam, Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan and other countries. With no clear-cut way to win these skirmishes we went ahead anyway and the results speak for themselves. 18 years in Afghanistan, no closer to victory today then we were when we started. Vietnam a hasty retreat, Iraq and Libya in ruins beset by terrorist and I offer this caveat. It’s not the fault of the soldiers.
It’s a new attitude in town today, a new attitude in Washington, that the greater generation would have looked down on. Getting along with others was important to them but we now have a new, go it alone attitude that will prove disastrous. We also have a new attitude about what is right and wrong. Right seems to be whatever feels good for you and wrong is anyone who thinks otherwise.
So now we celebrate the 4th of July. On my back porch is a wooden American Flag, crafted and given to me by my neighbor who is a veteran. That flag will stay there for as long as I live here. I grew up saying the pledge of allegiance in school everyday. I marched in the band with the flag out front. It stood in our house of worship, a gentle reminder of a partnership between faith and country. Our firefighters uniforms had a flag on our arm. We revered the flag wherever it was, not because it was pretty but for what it stood for. But as I see it now-- that is all changing. The flag is and has been disrespected over and over again. Veteran’s organizations are closing. Solicitors fill my mailbox with pleas for help for wounded veterans that our country can’t or won’t take care of and yet we want to make more of them.
We need only to look back to the days of the ‘Greater Generation’ to see what “Making America Great Again” would be about. No one in this country suffered like they did. No one gave more and asked less and yet they persevered and made this country great. The example is there for all to see but Oh!-- That’s right. We don’t use examples anymore. We know better.
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