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Wednesday, March 25, 2009

I got this in an e-mail today...

Tom Brokaw wrote a book entitled “The Greatest Generation”. What this book discussed was how much the WWII generation changed the country. It was this war that introduced the G.I. Bill, a legislative act allowing thousands of soldiers to return from the war to a grateful nation and become more. Because of the G.I. Bill, these soldiers were able to go to college and make something more of themselves, more than they had already become, being part of something greater and larger than themselves. The people who were part of WWII, whether they were a soldier or “Rosie the Riveter”, led this country not just to victory overseas but here at home as well. They sacrificed, they supported their country, they bought war bonds whether they could afford it or not, they created “victory” gardens, they painted lines on the backs of their legs because silk was in such high demand they couldn’t get hosiery. This group of people, both men and women, gave so much to their country, it was astonishing, and they didn’t mind doing it. It never occurred to them that WWII was a “meaningless war” and that it needed to be protested and made into a political platform for the next election.

I can remember my mother trying to teach me how to type when I was younger. The practice warm-up phrase she taught me was, "Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their party." Granted, it doesn't use all the letters, as in, "The quick red fox jumped over the lazy brown dog" but I think it's indicative of the time in which she was raised. What is important to us now is nothing compared to what was important to the WWII generation.

My father was a soldier in WWII and my mother was one of those who did what they needed to do to support not just the military but also their country. People did without so much all in the name of supporting their country. See, back then, the military WAS the country. Now, in today’s world, people will say, “I support the military, I just don’t support what the government’s doing”. When did the two separate? When did people start believing that to support one wasn’t supporting the other? The military IS the government; at least they support the actions of our government.

When did it become okay to take this stance? When did it become okay to rage against our government as much as Americans do? What happened to patriotism? Why aren’t more flags flying from front porches? What happened? When did it become de rigueur to hate America?
Today, I got an e-mail from my husband. It carried the subject line “WWII Posters – Patriotism was alive”.

I feel Obama is the first President to represent the "Me" Generation. His latest policies have nothing to do with what's best for the country but with what's best for "him". He has little or no honest, integrity, personal accountability or responsibility. He is also filling his cabinet with people who are pretty much the same. I feel sorry for this country and how it will look four years down the road. It'll be like the saying from the 50's, "Joe, I hardly knew ye."

I don’t think I need to say much more about this. The e-mail I received pretty much says it all. There are comments at the end of these posters that was added somewhere along the line of this being passed around the internet. Make sure you go all the way to the end so you can read those as well.

These were our parents. What, in God's name, have we let happen?

I guess we are the last generation to see, or even remember anything like these? Whatever happened? Political correctess (or "re-education") happened, lack of God's name happened, lack of personal responsibility happened, lack of personal integrity and honesty happened, lack of respect and loyalty to our country happened, lack of being an American happened.