D-Day Remembered... some ramblings...
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| Sun, 06-06-2004 - 4:16pm |
2,000 people the first day; 35,000 more to follow in a few short months. The printing of prayers and moments of silence. All the sacrifices at home. ...Would this nation be willing to do something like that today to fight an enemy? Could we give up driving our 14mpg SUVs and leased luxury cars to provide gas for the front line, give up trendy wardrobes so that more material is available for military use, not buy that new grill or swingset for the kids so that the metal could be used for a Hum-V, or switch to adequate but less varied dinners so that more food could go to the front line? So many today are angry at our current leaders for the over 200 Americans who've died in Iraq in the past year (indeed a tragic loss), a country whose former dictator supported terrorism even against fellow Arab nations, threatening the world's oil supply, the production of which (as we've seen several times since WWII) can wreak havoc on our own economy. Can we even fathom 37,000 dying over 3 months to free our allies from the throes of madmen, let alone the hundreds of thousands of Americans who died during the course of WWII? I don't think most of our citizens know what true sacrifice is, nor are they interested in such events in history. Yes, life goes on, but so indulgently it seems.
Dan and I watch many documentaries on WWII, Vietnam, Korea, the Cold War, and the past Gulf War. World Events aren't black & white, but have so many intertwining parts. Between D-Day, hearing the bagpipes played at our church (both in honor of D-day and as a lead-in to our expansions), Memorial Day, and Reagan's passing, I'm just finding myself very contemplative. A little disturbed at how much we're wrapped up in Survivor, American Idol, Emeril, Trading Spaces, sports, new cars before we've halfway paid for the old one, the Talk Show host(ess) du Jour, and having the latest gadgets in our media rooms or aforementioned cars... and so clueless at past events that allow us to be so removed from history and what's being written now. A little sad that as the Veterans of WWII pass away (out of 16 million, there are 4 million left who are dying of old age at the rate of 1000 a day), that we just might start forgetting how the world hung in such perilous balance, how unprepared the US was for WWII, relegating the 1940s to ancient history that doesn't have much to do with today. It just seems to me that if today's "for the moment" mindset was prevalent in the 1940s, we might all very well be speaking German or Japanese - even if not, the world would certainly be a very different place than the one we currently have.
I'm rambling, I know. I just wonder about the path of this nation, this world. Yes, the leaders at times, the terrorists, the fanatics on many spectrums - but more than that, the populace. I pray that the sacrifices of our deceased soldiers, current soldiers and soldiers yet to come aren't in vain for a vain nation.

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I hope President Reagan's passing makes us all remember how good we felt to be Americans so many years ago and that that spirit returns in the face of the threats against us today. I hate to see the strength this country showed in the days after 9/11 recede further into doubt about why this country is the best and anger at our leaders who are trying to sustain the positive outlook and resolve needed to overcome the threats of a group of fanatics hell-bent on destroying us. And I hope that our memories of the Great Communicator allow our leaders to say what they think about our enemies without apology. President Reagan never apologized for pushing and prodding the Soviet Union through his speech. President Bush shouldn't have to apologize for uttering beliefs that he holds true and close about our present-day enemies.
Now that's rambling....
Donna