December 7

[onmyknees]

Just about every small town has some sort of Veterans or war memorial. I was driving though one such town early this morning on my way to Boston. There was one red light and what looked like to be the village green on the opposite side. As the light changed in the early morning light, I could see some people crossing the road. It seemed to take them forever to make their way across the small street. I approached them and slowed ready to blow the horn in my haste. It was 4 or 5 gray haired men, in their army uniforms all had limps and struggled to walk crossing the street to meet several of their mates on the opposite side of the street already assembled at a small soldiers monument...some holding flowers. I felt ashamed that once I realized what day it was, but it was not lost on these men. Brokow called them the greatest generation. I know we routinely say some kind words about porn stars or B rated actors who have departed, and that's cool. We should eulogize folks who had an impact on us. I wanted to give a shout out to those old fellas that assembled in 20 degree weather in the early morning light to honor thier departed mates. Nuff said.
Peace.

[Jericho]

Politically, i don't think you and i are ever going to agree, but, so what, wasn't that what we fought for?
Different dates of remembrance, but, nice post, props!

[rameses2]

Here goes: living in Hawaii, not too far from Pearl Harbor, December 7th is a day that never goes by without some sort of observance. The distance between the actual event and now is so great and the pain of 9/11 so fresh, that the "Day that will live in infamy" seems, oddly, ancient. Even though there are a lot of living survivors who will never forget. Someday the people of New York will get to a place that we, the people of Hawaii, have been living in for most of my life: rememberance without hatred.

[yodajazz]

It did pass my mind today, about December 7th. I find myself reflecting back on the spirit of WW II more these days, as I read the writings of hate and division, coming from the people, commenting on Yahoo News stories. People knew we should sacrifice for the common good. War ration stamps limited the amounts of certain goods each family could have. My parents told me that they were told to save meat fats from cooking to be collected to make oil. And they lived quite modestly, so I'm saying that something was asked of everyone. They understood there was a job to be done, and an enemy to defeat. Even movie stars, like Clark Gable joined the service, to fight and support. The highest tax bracket was like 87%, and Roosevelt took actions to keep companies from making enormous profits off the war. Yet some call Obama "socialist".

Compare that to today. Like today some man compared paying taxes to being raped. There are groups of people that want see America destroyed, that is radical Islam. We have fought two wars, which were mostly put on credit, yet someone complains that they are being 'raped' by paying taxes, in the nation that has been the most blessed materially, on earth. Can anyone else, the evil spirit attacking our nation. It is most appearent when one thinks about the spirit of those, like the veterans that onmyknees. I too end with the word Peace. I'll just add that 'peace' is more about a state or mind. Peace. Thanks for the post.

[loren]

In the first half of the 20th Century, Americans were asked to sacrifice twice. Both times, people's personal lives were put on hold for what was an unknown time when victory was in doubt.

First there was Wilson, who gave every one in the nation two choices - work or fight. He even emptied out the prisons to fill the army's need for manpower. Food and other commodities were strictly rationes. People were encoutaged to grow their own food. In a year of figting we lost about 53,000 men in battle, another 63,000 to the flu and over 200,000 wounded.

Then came World War II. When we entered the war, victory was, at best, a distant prospect; as France was knocked out of the war eatly, Britain had been all but driven out of the Pacific and was only holding by a thread in the European Theatre, and the Soviets were on the very brink of collapse. Still, the entire nation readied itself for war. Athletes and movie stars joined the armed forces. Those who couldn't pass the examinations entertained the troops in USO tours. Food and gas were rationed, factories made tanks and guns instead of cars, shipyards were running at full capacity, and American cities turned out their lights at night. Over a million Americans were killed or wounded in that war.

A quotation about the two wars that has stuck with me vomes out of Canada. "When the radio announced that war had been declared, I saw my uncle turn white. I asked my aunt what was wrong. She told me that they [the Germans] crucified his brother in the last war."

[onmyknees]

It did pass my mind today, about December 7th. I find myself reflecting back on the spirit of WW II more these days, as I read the writings of hate and division, coming from the people, commenting on Yahoo News stories. People knew we should sacrifice for the common good. War ration stamps limited the amounts of certain goods each family could have. My parents told me that they were told to save meat fats from cooking to be collected to make oil. And they lived quite modestly, so I'm saying that something was asked of everyone. They understood there was a job to be done, and an enemy to defeat. Even movie stars, like Clark Gable joined the service, to fight and support. The highest tax bracket was like 87%, and Roosevelt took actions to keep companies from making enormous profits off the war. Yet some call Obama "socialist".

Compare that to today. Like today some man compared paying taxes to being raped. There are groups of people that want see America destroyed, that is radical Islam. We have fought two wars, which were mostly put on credit, yet someone complains that they are being 'raped' by paying taxes, in the nation that has been the most blessed materially, on earth. Can anyone else, the evil spirit attacking our nation. It is most appearent when one thinks about the spirit of those, like the veterans that onmyknees. I too end with the word Peace. I'll just add that 'peace' is more about a state or mind. Peace. Thanks for the post.

Thank you for the comments. Love to continue the dialogue sometime, but we'd be alone in that discussion. Unfortunately it's not going to draw that much interest. I have an Uncle in S.C. Iwo vet, 5th marines. There's so few of them left. Made a trip there last year as he's failing, but as expected he won't let go with too many stories. Those guys never do. It astounds me that for 2 years of his life he fought the Japanese hand to hand ...came back raised a family and had a son marry a girl from Okinawa who's father was on the island at the time of the invasion. He loves her like his own daughter. Now that sort of tolerance, forgiveness and acceptance is unheard of in today's world. Hell....just look at some of the threads on this forum !! They were better men than us I'm afraid !
Peace.

[onmyknees]

Here goes: living in Hawaii, not too far from Pearl Harbor, December 7th is a day that never goes by without some sort of observance. The distance between the actual event and now is so great and the pain of 9/11 so fresh, that the "Day that will live in infamy" seems, oddly, ancient. Even though there are a lot of living survivors who will never forget. Someday the people of New York will get to a place that we, the people of Hawaii, have been living in for most of my life: rememberance without hatred.

Understood. But please don't be too critical of New Yorkers....the wounds are raw and recent, and not likely to fade anytime soon...as we are reminded everyday ( the incident in Baltimore today) . Everyone deals with grief differently.

[onmyknees]

Politically, i don't think you and i are ever going to agree, but, so what, wasn't that what we fought for?
Different dates of remembrance, but, nice post, props!

:cheers:

At least for today anyway !!