It was Tom Brokaw, the retired nightly news anchor, who coined the term, The Greatest Generation, which was the title of his popular book about the Americans that grew up during the depression and fought valiantly in World War II “not for the fame and recognition, but because it was the right thing to do.” The wars since then—Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq I, Iraq II, and Afghanistan—lack the moral clarity and consensus that existed back then.
My dad served on a destroyer, the USS Caperton, in the Pacific fleet that survived Kamikaze attacks and patrolled Tokyo harbor during the peace treaty ceremony aboard the USS Missouri. He recently visited the WWII memorial in Washington D.C. in the company of my sister, Susan. They were part of the “Honor Flight” program, which quotes Will Rogers, “We can’t all be heroes. Some of us have to stand on the curb and clap as they go by.”
Thanks to Pam Spaulding’s blog, Pam’s House Blend, I post a video of another WWII hero from the Allied effort in Europe, and he asks the poignant question, “what do you think I fought for in Omaha Beach?” Listen to his answer.
Obie,
The video clip of the WWII vet is a keeper. Thank you for your excellent and poignant bloggings. I presume there will be a posting when your book is published. I plan to be in the fan line.
Phil
A liberal invoking DDay to win a political argument about gay marriage is a little interesting, and misleading. How many of the boys that hit the beach that do you do you really – truly – think had the gay marriage agenda on their minds? Most historians and firsthand accounts of the war (most wars) will tell you that most of those men fought primarily for the folks beside them. My friends that are in now tell me the same thing. Patriotism comes second, at least. But freedom for gays to marry? It is doubtful that was the first thought for the men of the segregated American Army that hit the beach on June 6, 1944.
Side note: More men were killed on DDay than in the entire Second Iraq War. We no longer have the stamina or the moral fortitude to sustain the wars that we begin. This is a sad example to bring up; the heroism of DDay seems to be no longer sustainable in modern America.
@Pastor Mack
You seem to imply that liberals are less patriotic than others–a worn out and false notion. There seems to be a parallel with the attitude of many religious conservatives that they are somehow holier than the rest of us. Both attitudes are noxious.
You take the war vet’s comments too literally. Of course, the men on Normandy were not thinking of marriage equality and probably not patriotism at all, but the veteran’s point is that the American ideal that all men are created equal was threatened by fascism and cost much blood to defend and is still an ideal worth fighting for even as the battlefield shifts.
I’m not sure what your point is with your “sidepoint”, but I sure hope you’re not questioning the patriotism or sacrifice of the generations since WWII. Do you mean to impugn the young men and women on their third or fourth tour of duty in the middle east in a war that has now lasted more than double the length of WWII?
You are silly. It’s not that liberals are less patriotic, liberals just have different versions of what constitutes “patriotism.” I only find it ironic because today’s liberals are the ones harping on pulling out of our current wars; and the casualties, comparatively speaking, of this war with WWII are quite different. So why invoke a war these folks couldn’t possibly stomach?
I know myself too well to think I’m holier than anybody. But you forget that liberals can be just as holier than thou (especially on issues they feel strongly about, like gay marriage).
You utterly missed my point. I am not questioning the patriotism of anyone that has fought for this country. I am questioning our country; the media and the culture at large no longer have the stomach for war, even when they see it to be necessary. We will send people into the fray, but when we realize that war means casualties we ask them to be brought back. (See Blackhawk Down, or from a funding angle, Charlie Wilson’s War) I find this disrespectful of the sacrifices they’ve made and the cause they fought for.
And Iraq has not lasted “double” the length of WWII. September of ’39 (Invasion of Poland) to May of ’45 is almost 6 years. Of course, rebuilding Germany and France took much longer than this. It is true in Iraq as well. It is a different kind of war, after all.
@Pastor Mack
I quote from your own blog: “I enjoy discussion, but let’s keep it charitable.” Based on that concept, I probably err by publishing your comment that begins with “You are silly.”
I still seeth at your earlier, and present, implication that liberals like me “couldn’t possibly stomach” a war with the moral clarity of WWII. You disrespect me and the two bronze star medals for valor in combat I won in Viet Nam with your perverse version of blind patriotism. As for the present Iraq war and the false pretenses with which the administration dragged us in, thank God for the liberals who are willing to charge that the emperor wears no clothes.
Your own blog claims you have left fundamentalism. Really? “Fundamentalism refers to a belief in a strict adherence to a set of basic principles (often religious in nature), sometimes as a reaction to perceived doctrinal compromises with modern social and political life,” according to Wikipedia and includes “clinging to a stubborn, entrenched position that defies reasoned argument or contradictory evidence.”
I think you might have had a relapse.
Obie: This clip is a little deceiving. What Americans fought for in WWII was the right to be left alone by their government, which is completely opposite to what gays are fighting for. They want government to get involved in their, and others’ lives.
The reason that gays should be allowed to be married in society is based upon justice. Today’s marriage has nothing to offer that is sacred or sacramental. Civil marriage is just a contract between adults; and a completely worthless contract at that.
However, the issue of religious marriage is much deeper and wider than just the immediate participants. It is about living in accordance with the divine plan. Liberals like to throw around the term fundamentalism as if it were a pejorative term. But, in its best sense, it means honoring the fundamental principles that govern, and not inventing new fundamentals.
These kinds of promotions are designed to inflame the passions without engaging the mind. Fighting in WWII is irrelevant to whether the government should grant the same privilege of marriage to gays that it grants to heteros.
Once again, Great website, and great writing.
God Bless,
David, while I agree that the clip may be misleading, I do think it’s a little simplistic to say that we were fighting for “the right to be left alone.” Certainly WWII’s moral clarity had to do with more than that.
Diane: I can’t see a connection between WWII and the gay movement either morally or politically.