Builders,
Today I am sitting with my father in NJ, watching media coverage of the life of one of his favorite sportsmen, Yogi Berra. He was the last living connection to the golden era of baseball in my father’s youth, held sacred with memories like this: Thought for the Day “The luckiest man on the face of the earth” My father feigned stoic indifference, but he was clearly bothered by the last light of an era fading out.
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Seventy three years ago, the world had descended into madness, and offered a stark choice. It would either be freed by moral and ethical men, or it would be as Orwell said “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—forever.”
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When he turned 17, the young man who would become my father 21 years later, joined millions of other free men, and took up weapons to prevent the human race from being enslaved by the most vile totalitarians the world had ever known. They imagined a decisive conflict, but it didn’t play out that way; my father is a WWII, Korea, Vietnam and Cold war veteran. Each of those conflicts took the lives of friends and family, men who’s names he can only speak after a long pause or hard swallow. He well understands the cost of a forty year struggle to keep that boot off mankind’s face.
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I have not watched TV at home in many, many years. But here, in the home of my parents, I sit beside by father, his mobility robbed by age, as he looks into the TV to find some evidence that we have not squandered the gift, a free world, which we received from the men of his generation, perhaps your father among them. It is a gift we didn’t earn, they purchased it for us anyway, at a staggering human cost.
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Father is an eternal optimist, he only needs to find some trace of good that was built on the foundation we were bequeathed. But in an hour, there is nothing to hold on to, nothing to salvage from the endless waste of consumerism, at astronomic levels of narcissism, all acts of selfless heroic deeds pushed aside by a tide of greed and gluttony, bathed in comments from the most inane actors pretending to be journalists, offering no insight, only triggering knee-jerk emotional reactions to dog whistle phrases.
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I do not look at the screen, I only see it reflected in my fathers glasses as sifts through news channels looking for some bit of rectitude hidden in the waste. When I can take no more, I put my hand on his, and impulsively say “I am sorry”. For a moment he looks in my eyes to assess if I really understand what the gift cost. At this moment I understand that every old story was told in the hopes that we might understand what was done for us, not so we would thank them, just so that we wouldn’t waste it. On this day, I remain profoundly sorry for how little we have done with the gift.
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-ww.
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Media Correction: Several times today, I heard an elected $80,000 per year government bureaucrat who refused to work, resign, or obey the law she swore to defend, referred to as a “religious martyr” for spending 5 days in a minimum security jail for contempt of court. This is one of the things I detest about corporate controlled media entertainment and marketing pretending to be “News.” If anyone cares, I offer an actual definition of an actual religious martyr: Thích Quảng Đức
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Thích Quảng Đức , Saigon June 11th 1963. This is the last act in this world of a devout, 66 year old Buddhist monk. He was protesting the repression of the majority Vietnamese Buddhist population by the ruling Vietnamese elite, who were Catholics. Madame Nhu, the de-facto first lady called it a “barbecue” and stated, “Let them burn and we shall clap our hands.” Most other people in the world, including JFK in the White House, had a different reaction.
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Lest any American see this as the act of a different culture, know that there were at least five Americans, of different faiths, who repeated this act on US soil between 1965 and 1970 as a war protest. The last was a 23 year old UC student named George Winne Jr, who just like me, was the son of a US Navy Captain.
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If you have the courage, you can watch the 2 minutes of film of 11 June 1963 on You Tube. In a supreme act of will, Thích Quảng Đức does not even flinch as he is consumed. Having once been partially on fire myself, I suspect it takes more than a minute to die, and I will assure anyone it is more painful than your imagination allows you to believe. Before anyone asks if I think people with suicide vests are martyrs, I don’t think that takes courage at all, and I have no respect for people who wish to harm others to please their God.
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Thanks William for the shot in the arm. Just reaffirms to me that Most of the aircraft people have a little more morals ect than the general public and it is our duty to not let the screwed up country take that away and do everything we can to spread the correct morals that so few in this country still have and hold on to.
Thanks Again.
Tim Shupert
Although I’m closer to your age than your father’s, I agree with your words on Yogi and the last connection to that era. Dunno why, but in the paper the other day they had a list of his quotes of wisdom. I just started crying as I read it. Didn’t really understand why I reacted that way. Maybe it was the same realization that your Dad had. A more peaceful time, the “field of dreams” moment before having to return to reality. *sigh*
William, I could read your stuff for days. Please continue to use your gift of convaying truth and understanding with humility and respect. You are a rarity in this world. Thank you.
Huge egos powered by stupidity have created wars after 1776, and the idealistic, herded, or adventuresome have paid a gruesome price. Arguably, WWII had to be fought, Arguably because, would it have happened if the idiocy of WWI had not taken place? Hard to say, maybe we would have just traded ‘names’, i.e., WWII would have been WWI. Those commanding German forces and Corporal Hitler became (or were already) pride filled evil ego-maniacs. They had to be eliminated along with all who followed them. Stalinism was the next following evil idiocy, the stakes were really big, so our leaders began kicking the can down the road, along with ethics, honesty, or any real concern for the American people. IF you can walk away from a bully, great; if not, you kick his ass into the ground, you don’t pussy foot around, no pun intended. TR, FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Reagan. That’s about it for the modern era. My name and number were in the pool for Vietnam, I was infantry and cavalry in Germany – had orders to go twice that were rescinded, once because God only knows, the last because I’d put in an early out for school that upon approval just beat the deadline for disembarkation by days. I hated that war. Have you read that Ho Chi Minh tried to talk to Eisenhower first, but, apparently, his reaction to French ego was to ignore him? If true, that was his dumbest decision, causing ultimately a horrible, lousy war, even though he made many, many righteous decisions. I’m not disagreeing with you, our views are parallel and won’t ever quite meet, but your post opened the door I couldn’t quite shut. You’re welcome, of course, to strip this post from the comments and absolutely no offense will be taken – I’m a complete fan…, just not of politically constrained warfare initiated for political or ego gain. Iran? Looks like a bully needing an ass kicking, right after Congress and the Presidential Administration.
Jackson,
Share what ever you are thinking, as I say it is all meant to be thought provoking, not thought providing. No one was ever hurt by listening to a different perspective. The only thing I ever edit are notes that accidently include a guys address or a note he meant to send personally. I write about things I feel strongly about, I am fine when people write stuff that is strong to them, it is a chance to see it through different eyes. -ww.
There is a special place in Hell reserved for those cowards who convince Others to go out and kill themsleves in a way that will take as many innocent lives as possible. If they were true believers in their cause they would do the deed themsleves. That would still not be a noble deed but at least it would show some honesty.
So many poignant points!
Your Father can rest assured there are still many great Americans in all generations. My Dad was also in World War II with the Navy amphibious forces. I served in the Army towards the end of Vietnam and my son was a Army Combat Medic who served in Afghanistan 2011-12. While we are snug in our beds there are soldiers performing “missions” on a constant basis. We don’t hear about what is going on in the combat zones. Our troops are still enduring Rocket Propelled Grenades, mortars, machine gun fire and IED’s, but we don’t hear about it. I scoured for any tidbit of information on what was going on when my son was deployed and heard ignorant remarks from the public like, “Oh, is there still a war going on? I thought that was all over.” No,
Iraq had ended but there was and is still some heavy fighting going on. The same blood of our ancestors flows through our sons and daughters and they still answer the call. Soldiers still rescue one another with no fear for their own safety and good young and old people are serving in all walks of life quietly behind the scenes as firefighters, police, hospital workers, mission volunteers, food pantry volunteers….you get the point. The news media tends to report the more exciting robberies, chase scenes and the like, not on the great silent majority which is merely trying to live right and do the right thing!