Today is the 4th of July, the day America celebrates our freedom. And I'm a little sad. And a whole lot afraid. I think most people still feel patriotic on this day. Some may even shed a tear of pride when the fireworks explode overhead and a band plays America The Beautiful and God Bless America. But I'm sad because I don't think most people really understand what it took to win our freedom and what it takes to keep it. And they don't fully appreciate the ones who paid the price - the individual soldiers, sailors, and airmen. And with the way things are going now, I'm very afraid our way of life, America's very soul, is being lost. It seems we no longer have the will or the fortitude it takes to win a war. We certainly have the means, just not the guts. No longer are the enemies of America afraid to take us on. It is us that has become afraid. Afraid of unleashing our weapons and soldiers on our enemies until they, their supporters, their friends and even their goats, sheep and dogs are dead or have surrendered and there is no one left to fight; afraid of expecting immigrants to learn to speak English; afraid of letting the lazy go hungry; afraid of not giving murderers and child rapist more "rights" than their victims. Yes, I'm very afraid for America. We have forgotten that we can't buy off our enemies no matter how many billions of dollars we give them. We have forgotten that you can't buy democracy and freedom. It has to be earned and paid for by the people who are willing to give up their lives in the fight for it - individual soldiers, sailors, and airmen.
A Soldier Died Today
by A. Lawrence Vaincourt
reprinted by permission
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies; they were heroes, every one.
And tho' sometimes, to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his Legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer for old Bill has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer, for a soldier died today.
He will not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won't note his passing, though a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Papers tell their whole life stories, from the time that they were young,
But the passing of a soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land
A guy who breaks his promises and cons his fellow man?
Or the ordinary fellow who, in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers up his life?
A politician's stipend and the style in which he lives
Are sometimes disproportionate to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps a pension small.
It's so easy to forget them for it was so long ago,
That the old Bills of our Country went to battle, but we know
It was not the politicians, with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you want a politician with his ever-shifting stand?
Or would you prefer a soldier, who has sworn to defend
His home, his kin and Country and would fight until the end?
He was just a common soldier and his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honor while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps just a simple headline in a paper that would say,
Our Country is in mourning, for a soldier died today.
Being somewhat pessimistic by nature (and working really hard for the last 30 years to not be) I am not convinced that the bulk of Americans are willing to do what it takes to turn it around. It's going to take a lot more than just voting out the dickheads and voting in some new dickheads (in my opinion most politicians are born dickheads). Certainly voting in new blood will be a step in the right direction but I believe the real crux is the selfish nature of Americans in general.
ReplyDeleteI don't mean selfish in the context of helping a friend or making a donation to a charity; these are easy things to do. The difficulty, the selfishness comes when we have to "ask not what our country can do for us, but ask what we can do for our country." JFK was absolutely correct when he stated this 50 years ago. Since then, we as a society have become too spoiled and thereby too complacent and ultimately feeling entitled. Please recognize I'm making this statement about American society at large.
Since the 60s, and Johnson's 1964 Great Society speech, we have not inculcated ourselves, our children, and in many cases our grandchildren in what it truly means to be an American. America is not a place but an ideal. An ideal that takes a tremendous amount of blood, sweat and tears to protect and keep alive. Our value structuring is more geared to overt consumerism (buy baby buy, and then throw it away and buy more) than it is to proper stewardship for the long haul.
Throw into this mix the misguided programs from both the Republicans as well as the Democrats, almost all of which were and are geared to appeasing the masses as opposed to doing what is necessary, and we have a continuum of, at best, mediocrity. We look back upon the Gipper with rose-colored glasses. I loved Ronald Reagan but deficit spending is a really bad bad idea. Couple with that the unbridled marketing of buy now, pay later, and we create a bubble; a bubble that has broken.
A republic, which is what the United States is, is supposed to be about Laws . Everyone is supposed to know this and behave accordingly. But here again, we have not held ourselves nor our progeny to the higher standard. The Police do not enforce the laws, they just catch the bad guys after the crime is committed. Societal morays and the strength of personal character and accountability is what makes the laws work. Now make no mistake, the laws are not always convenient, but they are always the law and we must follow them.
So after all this rambling you're probably wondering what the hell I'm trying to say. It is this: Embrace our history as a living, breathing entity. Hold in high esteem and value the sacrifices that have been made. Teach this to everyone so they know freedom is not free but must be guarded and protected at all costs up to, and including, one's life. We are facing a great struggle of socialistic dreams of easy days in the sun versus the hard and rocky road of freedom. We have become too lame and too lazy and unless we are willing to make a fundamental change in our attitudes and values, what we know as America will wither and die.