I am always humbled every June 6th, thinking about the sacrifices my parents' generation made for us. Today, thinking of a twice-impeached, many-times-disgraced former president—and now a convicted felon—running for president as a fascist makes me believe that the millions who died defending against the tyranny of fascist leaders are not only rolling in their graves but are ready to jump out and fight.
I was reminded, reading this letter, of the reality of war in my own family. My father and my uncle both volunteered, both served, only one returned home from the battles of the Pacific.
My father died in 2014 . He never wanted to talk much about the war . His generation was characterized by quiet service without chest beating. Common men and women who were heroes when heroes were required. My fervent hope is that the world they enabled will be preserved by those of us who were beneficiaries of their service and sacrifice.
My father was disabled in WWII while serving in the Navy in the Pacific theater. He lost 3 fingers on his right hand. When he returned from WWII in spite of having an accounting degree he had a lot of trouble getting a job. He eventually went to work for the IRS where he worked for over 30 years. Our family received a monthly stipend for his disability of a whopping $30 a month during the 1950's. He never complained about his injury but he never talked about the war either.
My mom's brother served in the US Army during WWII and contracted malaria. He too was disabled but not seriously enough to receive any benefits.
"War is hell," a phrase repeated time and again. But usually not by those who saw action. They tend to be mum.
Every time I read that convicted felon draft dodger Trump calls those who serve "suckers and losers" I wonder how ANYONE can support this POS.
I had an uncle who was hero in the South Pacific. He served 20 years in the Navy, then returned home and bought a farm, which he worked for 40+ years. He never talked much about the war until he was in his 70s and 80s, when he would flirt with waitresses, by telling them a little about his war experience. The waitresses were charmed. But he was charming.
Most people in our community knew about some things about his war experiences, but I don't think any of us knew the full extent.
He was a modest, humble man of great honor. After my father died, he became my kids' "grandpa.". I don't think any of us can talk about Uncle Joe without smiling.
Thanks for sharing a portion of your family’s story. I also wonder how anyone can support TFG. There is a short circuit somewhere within supporters’ value system.
Gary, my late father-in-law served in the Pacific during WW2, and similarly never wanted to talk about it, which I respected despite my enduring curiosity. He did tell the story of returning home to the East Coast by train, on a cot , fevered by malaria as he rode across the country.
I think the stories are impactful and I don’t want to overlook the burden on those who stayed home, raised families, worked on assembly lines, and prayed for the return of loved ones. In quiet moments it’s easy for me to be overwhelmed with what was given to us. We were blessed by “The Greatest Generation”.
My wondering too. What are they missing in human ‘sensitivity’… must only be basic early childhood education.. “give that seat to your friend.. “ Share & Care in musical chairs…
A lot of that silence i think was a form of "battle trauma"... ordinary people were subjected to emotional horrors which they had somehow to accommodate in their subsequent civilian and family lives. An oral history movement picked up in the 70s and later to throw more human light on what these men mainly had to endure.
My parents both served in Italy. My dad after North Africa. He led infantry platoons, wounded twice. My mom was his nurse. We can only imagine the horrors of the wounds she had to treat.
They rarely spoke of their experiences - even when asked. For them, it was their way of dealing with the trauma. And remember that their generation was supposed to just suck it up and move on.
Anyway, that's how they met. And my sister and I are the results. It's weird to owe my existence to a world war. But that's life.
Bill, reading your comment and others like it about the “keeping it to themselves” of their war experiences, my mind’s eye saw the way a tree can grow around a rock or other solid object, fully encasing it, yet continuing to grow….and observers are often not fully aware of it. ❤️🩹
Bill, We share somewhat similar experiences. Father was a tail gunner in a B17.
Mother trained pilots in nite navigation . As boys , my brother and I would admire my father's medals and the knife he brought back from the army air corp. Father didn't talk much about his service beyond explaining why he had a 6" scar in his side. He was lucky. Year later when I'd ask him why he went he just said he was young and naive. He was able to bury the trauma for a while and became quite successful . Later when life became more challenging his PTSd took over and ruined his life. He'd awaken in the middle of the nite from dreams of dropping bombs onto German cities and seeing formation aircraft descending in flames. I can't understand why we have retained this seemingly senseless need for war but it persists to our own peril.
Gary Anderson - I feel compelled to write a personal response. We know a little more now about what those who saw battle and killed other human beings suffered -- unspeakably suffered -- named in more recent years "PTSD". My favorite uncle (born in 1920) was one of them. And he never spoke within my earshot of the atrocities he witnessed. (Nor do I think he did with my parents during his furloughs with us or after the war.) But several years after the war he suddenly disappeared from his post-war family of wife, 6 adopted children, 7 children of his own, his parents, his sister, 2 brothers, 2 nieces (including me), and a sister-in-law. At some point, a jacket was found hanging from a tree branch above the Niagara Falls with hand written ID in a pocket. We all knew he didn't (wouldn't) take that route, but he totally disappeared, not contacting anyone. Then a number of years later his body was found hanging in a San Francisco hotel room. The ID of his assumed name was fake of course, but his fingerprints eventually were identified through War records. PTSD in my opinion is the number one silent killer, going undetected for years, maybe forever. (Thank you for indulging this personal story.)
My heart goes out to you and so many others who experienced traumatic family events as a result of the war to preserve the world. Thank you for describing your reality. I appreciate you taking the time to share it with those of us who are here.
Truly. My prayers continue this thread daily , often minute by minute when I’m frightened by the daily ‘news’.. I will be ‘leaving’ sometime soon and pray for a kinder WORLD for my 4 & 7 y/o grsons.
I too was reminded about my father's service as a Marine. He was a sergeant of an anti-aircraft gun crew in the South Pacific, was wounded with a ricochet & killed the Japanese man who shot at him. Had a belly scar & a purple heart (which I didn't see until after he died in 1993). He never spoke of the war- I only heard about it from my mother & later read some of his journal notes where he named his fellow Marines who had been killed in action. Maybe I was afraid to ask. I sometimes wonder if he lived the rest of his life in service to others as atonement for killing another. He never allowed us to have guns. He was a kind gentleman & supportive father. I was fortunate.
Thank you, Gary et al., for these stories of our brave kinsmen and kinswomen. As that 'Greatest Generation' passes out of living historical memory, it is the emergent oral tradition of what these Americans did that keeps the legacy alive, relevant, inspiring.
At the very least, Michael, I hope they return to haunt his dreams. Not that it would prompt a change in him, as I believe he is incapable of that psychologically…but I like the idea of him being chastised by those brave and honorable souls.
It’s 3:30 in the morning & I’m lying in bed crying after reading Biden’s speech. Two years we buried my dad, the last of 3 WWII vets in our family.
His casket had a been draped in the same 48 star flag that covered the caskets of his brother who died in the war and his sister who served in the WAVES. Of the three, my dad was the only one born in the US.
Dad had watched while the Capital stormed and was horrified that what he had fought for was in such danger and more horridly, by Americans.
I was watching the whole thing online, it was appalling and very obvious Trump was behind it. I also could not imagine Trump giving a speech like President Biden did. Trump thinks the people who died in battle are “losers and suckers.” He and his family have never served. I have never served, but I respect those who have.
When Academics and journalists compared what we are living thru to Germany in the 1920s and 30s I initially thought maybe. Now I see that the unimaginable is occuring in our country. The ease with which the national socialists were able to control the narrative and manipulate the german people is scary. The fringe right in this country is now mimicking, almost verbatim, the words used by Hitler and Hess while they were taking power from the Weimar Republic.
You always provide a moving historical and human context. My father was in the pacific during ww2 so my family stories aren’t of Normandy or the war in Europe. My mother was a coast watcher, a volunteer corps known as the Aircraft Warning Service who watched for incoming planes after Pearl Harbor along the pacific coast. So far as I know no planes were ever detected this way but it was a morale booster and a way for civilians to participate. I think hearing and reading about these stories helps remind us what we need to protect, and I’m not referring to foreign aggression, except as it applies to disinformation. Thank you for yet another snippet of context from history as it ties into today’s events.
My dad went into Rome after he was wounded in North Africa and had frostbite in the Italian mountain campaign. My mom's older brothers were in the US Army air corps in England, flew cover for D-Day. My dad had one brother who had been wounded in the Navy and another in Burma at the time. My mother in law served under Jimmy Stewart in England, my father in law was at Utah Beach.
I was born in 1943. Many of my classmates lost their dads, some in France but most at the Battle of the Bulge.
I am a Vietnam veteran. Only 80, but pretty sure I'm the last one left from my unit.
My family has veterans from the Revolutionary war to active military today. I had three uncles and one aunt who served in WWII. I get weepy when I read about D-Day every year. They returned home safely but not after an uncle spent 2 years in a POW Camp. I have lots of memories of my relatives who we saw often. Uncommmon Valor.
Daniel, that is quite a gold star history you’ve descended from. I’m in awe. Despite my decidedly mixed feelings about the whole business of war, I found myself tearing up over and over again yesterday - the D-day news reels, those ancient living veterans, watching the Bidens and Macrons walking in hand in hand, the French and American anthems, Biden’s speech. It’s a comfort to find there is still some patriotism within me in these awful times.
Thank you, Daniel, for the service you provided as well as your family. I wish we had that America again - the one who recognizes service, honors it, and chooses to serve.
Daniel My cousin, a Quaker, was with the First Marine Division that landed in Guadalcanal in November, 1942. His platoon then was ‘island hopping’ for nearly two years.. Jim was the only member who wasn’t badly injured or killed. Another cousin was exec officer on a sub. Soon after Pearl Harbor, his sub was sunk. He was one of four survivors. We didn’t know for two years that he was alive.
My dad had served in WW I as a pilot. Over age, he signed up for the Eighth Air Force in July, 1942. Though in a staff role, he talked his way onto a daylight raid over Hamm, Germany as a waist gunner. 169 crew members took off, only 68 returned, though some planes had gone to other airfields.
As a Foreign Service Officer, during a 1964 Congo foreign hostage rescue operation, I captured several rebels at gun point.
I salute all those Americans who Bone Spur Donnie has categorized as ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’
Keith, I love that the stories posted here of their (and your) experiences & those of their families bring them to life, like a gift to the reader (me)…a treasured offering in the telling.
Thanks for all the comments. I've been asking people to repeat "not suckers or losers," especially on Facebook, where I am banned. 4 million people on Facebook are veterans or active duty members. 12.5 million people on Facebook are family members of a veteran or an active duty member. 242 million people on Facebook are friends with one or more veterans or active duty members.
I am banned on FB too, called chump’s verbiage Nazi blather almost four years ago. It is the family members and descendants of WW2 veterans who are chump supporters that chap me most.
I enjoyed both until they became cesspools. I never followed idiots. Did follow and un follow some family. Amazing how they turned into crazy for Repub propaganda. Zero tolerance, for them and for Elon and Zuck
Thank you for serving in Vietnam. I'm sad to think you may not have had a warm welcome when you returned but I hope you know that you are very appreciated. My brother served there as well and oddly is a Trump supporter to the end. I can never put those two things together but I love my brother dearly.
Daniel, it was my privilege to know a man who led his platoon in a jump onto Omaha beach and who lost a son in Vietnam. He was a clarinet player in several of the community groups I played in. Never talked about any of it; the only way I learned about his son was at his wife's memorial service.
Sioux, my Dad enlisted in the Army at the age of 26, was detailed USAAC, and was trained as a meteorologist. His overseas service was in China, where he worked on setting up the weather stations that helped the bombers fly "over the hump". He never talked about his experiences, either, and he was not in a real combat role.
I found an article on the coast watchers in Oregon.
Thank you for this. I’m also from Oregon although when my mom did this she lived in California, long before I was born. Then she went on to work as a riveter making war planes at Boeing.
This is a day to remember and you have so wonderfully documented the significance of this. Joe Biden is a great leader because a president is a servant to the people, versus the former president who believed people served him. I also want to add that your YouTube talk today you should post because you Heather are seeing patterns that are essential for us to know. Thanks!
Wendy Eck. -- Thanks for this link to this YouTube video. I didn't know about Heather's YT channel, and will now seek out how to subscribe to it somehow.
Wendy, I am already following her on FB, but I never see anything from her feed. And I didn't see a way to "follow" her on YouTube. I'll figure it out. T'would be nice if she would alert us in her letters. (I have a lot of FB friends, so maybe it's FB being selective on what they feed to me.)
On both FB and YouTube, try entering her name in the search 🔍. Great idea for Heather to let us know how to access her work other than through substack
Let us also honor Al Persichitti from Rochester, New York who was 102 years old. He was a veteran who served on Iwo Jima. He died en route to France for this event, the 80th anniversary.
Good for Heather celebrating the individuals in Normandy today celebrating other individuals.
That's what democracy is -- resting on the potential of individuals to make their own lives, and to respect, honor, celebrate other individuals.
And now we find ourselves engaged in another fight with pernicious fascism -- but at home, in the U.S., with pious hypocrite thugs like House Speaker Mike Johnson, the corrupt of the Clarence court all lying and providing cover for the fat, orange convicted criminal -- and so many allied others contemptuous of American law, traditions, our now-beleaguered American women and their families.
So please, now, readers and fellow commenters on Heather's "Letters from an American": read Diane Ravitch’s "The Language Police.” It reports on all those who lay the imaginative groundwork for the new fascists. These are our committee assemblers of corporate textbooks, and all our vetting, vetted, calculating standardized testers. They all occupy nothing but abstractions. All so pitifully distance themselves so far, far from any individual humans, and equally far, far from all our humanities, so they've zero human truths -- instead forming their own massive black hole of demented delusion to further their 34-count and counting convicted criminal-in-chief.
Specifically, have essay writing programs to nurture the skills for quoting others as to their specific, individual concerns. First, in one classroom essay these personal differences in writing (introductory self introductions), then discussions of first essays, then re-writes for quoting others in the room.
Send rewritten essays to group of "others" elsewhere (others writing, discussing similarly in nearby culture), for new rounds of essays quoting from the other culture. Israeli Jews quoting Israeli Arabs. Russians quoting Ukrainians. Japanese quoting Chinese or Koreans. All in English.
They merge perfectly with the enslavers of yore, as Heather detailed in "How the South Won the Civil War."
I hew to Lincoln, who believed in the programs of a strong enough federal government to uphold rights "of the people, by the people, for the people."
In education we've had the gross opposite. All the standardized testing programs have squeezed, desiccated, dehumanized our schools. They've all targeted schools to be reduced to tools of the billionaires, by the billionaires, for the billionaires.
Even team Biden has nobody with any humanities. Just money grubbers. All the Republicans have become living dead. Team Biden? Not much better.
I'm guessing you refer to the Diane Ravitch book. I have a well-used, much-annotated hardcover edition of its original 2003 publication. Only link to it is the set of stairs going up to the bedroom where it's long been with other treasures beside where I sleep -- and typically also awaken for various middle-of-the-night readings.
Just got it on my new Kindle Scribe for $4.99. This version doesn't let me mark it up like the PDF files I send to it (and have my handwritten notes converted to New Courier font text, a capability that seems to have come with a periodic update). This version doesn't seem to let me add notes other than ones that are then indicated by a tiny icon (now it seems a larger but still small icon has been one of the updates).
It may not be everyone's choice but its unique capabilities are worth the price point since it lets me store hundreds of books (and have access to more if near wifi, I think), with a very low power e-paper screen that lets me go weeks without having to recharge it. I'd suggest looking at Len Edgerly's videos to see what the limitations are and what improvements have been added over the years. I'd love to see the entire series of LFAA letters available on Kindle so I could read them on a slow boat to china with nothing more than a solar powered charger access every week or so.
I just looked it up, and I'm going to get a copy. Diane Ravitch and I had a couple of very tense interactions back during the GHWBush administration when she and Lynn Cheney were advocating for dropping Civics from the curriculum. She eventually recanted, but it was too late for Civics. Neither of them, I felt, had any feel for the challenges of public school classrooms.
Good for you on your struggle for Civics. It was apparently gone in Ohio as early as the 60s, when I was in high school. I learned a little in U.S. History and more from my parents and did the rest on my own. Ravitch has made a career of committing herself to policies and projects she later recants. I guess that’s how she learns, but as you say, the damage is done. She really didn’t have a feel for the experience of teaching or learning in the public schools, though she went to them K-12. Her kids went to private schools. Her view on higher education were pretty second-hand as well, and borderline racist. But she was right, and staunch, on the toxin of charter schools.
Yes, I'm glad she took a stance away from charter schools that leech students and funds from public schools. I believe she also supports the teachers' union now. Both she and Lynn Cheney were infatuated with the ideas of E.D. Hirsch and Allen Bloom, and by coincidence today I saw an article by Will Gordon in the current Atlantic that revisits their theories. Gordon first speaks about Neil Postman, the Canadian author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, which dealt with television. He didn't live to see the internet, but Gordon thinks he might have been more sympathetic to Bloom's suggestions than Hirsch's, which mostly advocate making sure students can identify long lists of cultural references. The article's definitely worth a read.
DJT is a wanna be dictator...he loves absolute power and being above everyone else. It's all he knows and understands. We must stop him from ever holding public office again....and it appears the ballot box is going to be the only way to do it. We have 5 months. If our ancestors could defeat a tyrant on the scale of Hitler, we can and must finish off DJTs political career. One 4 year term was too much. We don't need to build thousands of Liberty Ships or B-17's and no one needs to die. We just need to "nip it in the bud" as Barney would say. Peace
"he loves absolute power and being above everyone else"
That is the product so-called "Republicans" are selling these days, and it's our species' Achilles Heel. "The master race". the master sex", the conceit that one is doing God's bidding by oppressing (or killing) others, and the calculation of every human value in dollars and cents. It always gets ugly, and yet it seems many societies never learn.
Even as a young child I couldn't figure out the "my religion is right and yours is wrong" attitudes among "spiritual" people & leaders. If there is a singular creative spirit, the fact that "the" creator made us all, seems pretty obvious...and why would any creator make some "less than" on purpose? I started to look at the differences as basically tribal...or the region your people came from. The basics of the Golden Rule can be found in most societies. As we intermingled more and more and blended you would think that the old ideas would melt away...but alas it appears that some need to feel and act superior....and fear of "the other" is a powerful motivator.
My favorite Twain quote. “The easy confidence with which I know that another man’s religion is folly makes me suspect that my own is also.” Says it all for me
Mike the "I am right" problem in Christianity goes back to the very beginning. Read your Old and New Testaments. In many ways monotheism is a "virus of the social mind".
The concept of hierarchy, that some groups/people's are better/superior than others is the underlying indicator for authoritarian belief. And it is strong in America and across the world. But it is learned. No baby is born that way. In the book "On Fascism: 12 Lessons From American History" by Matthew McWilliams, he provides an Index of American Authoritarian Attitudes (before chapter 1):
34% of Americans agree that having a strong leader who does not have to bother with Congress and elections is a good way of governing the U.S.
46% of Americans are inconsistent supporters of democracy and democratic institutions.
44% of Americans agree that increasing racial, religious, and ethnic diversity represents a threat to security of the US.
30% of Americans agree with the statement "I often find myself fearful of other people of other races."
28% of Americans agree that many women are actually seeking special favors, such as hiring policies that favor them over men, under the guise of asking for "equality."
23% of Americans agree that sometimes other groups must be kept in their place.
16% of Americans agree an ideal society requires some groups to be on top and others to be on bottom.
14% of Americans agree some groups of people are simply inferior to other groups.
Mike not wanna be. IS. He ran his company that way and he has acted like a dictator during his first term. It was some of the better people that held him in check. Otherwise, he would have stayed in office.
If there is a Pulitzer or a Nobel prize in history for Substack writers, you should clearly be at the top of the list for an award. What wonderful writing and insightful history.
TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE: U.S. veteran in a wheelchair. When the man tried to kiss Zelensky’s hand, the Ukraine president instead stooped and hugged him. “You’re the savior of the people,” the man said. Zelensky answered, “You saved Europe.” The exchange continued: “You’re my hero.” “No, you are our hero.”
This was so beautiful to witness…And there was my wonderful Prime Minister Justin Trudeau standing behind him. He’s not perfect by any means but has a kindness about him that I deeply respect…
It just occurred to me that we hold Biden to such a high standard that anything but perfect is a deficiency and the “other” is allowed to have another standard. I hear this a lot “not perfect but…” I myself have said this on a number of occasions and I think we should just think of Biden as the citizen at the moment that our country and world needs and only God is perfect with perhaps the exception that He allowed Trump and MTG to inhabit this world in our lifetime. Maybe that’s our punishment for “the fall”
Velensky was honorably spot on.... that said, we can thank the entire organizational effort, from leaders and collective policies made, down to the very nitty gritty.
Wow. Thank you. Such a touching and inspirational letter.
Prez. Biden's speech was very moving and the scenes I've seen from the ceremonies make me proud to support a president that is a truly good person and who understands very deeply the importance on honoring our history and those who made it happen. I liked the way he not only honored those who fought on the front line, but also the many who toiled away in relative anonymity, but whose efforts were essential to the overall effort.
Written yesterday, published again now (with slight editing):
*
Today is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the landing of 150 000 men on the beaches of Normandy, from which they were to advance, fighting all the way, until the Allied armies met the Red Army on the Elbe in the heart of Germany.
My father, a British naval officer, worked in Combined Ops at the Admiralty in London, among those planning the logistics of that great invasion, in which the fleet brought its harbor with it… He didn’t take part in it, but was detailed to take part in the invasion of Japan. He expected to die there, facing other islanders…
Much later in life, he seemed not to understand me when I spoke of the spirit but to have accepted the logic of superior material power, and I asked him: “Why, then, if you are so impressed by military might, did you not consider suing for peace after Dunkirk?” (Dunkirk: the hurried evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force at end May, early June 1940, leaving France overrun by Hitler’s Blitzkrieg.)
He paused for a moment, then said:
“We knew that it would be hard, we knew that we faced a terrible enemy. Yet throughout the whole length of the war, neither I nor any one of my comrades doubted for one moment that we would overcome.”
I remember the story my father-in-law shared, that as a young man recently married to his sweetheart, my husband's mom,....about being transported from a small town in Iowa where his father was a shopkeeper to The Merchant Marine Academy located at Kings Point, in New York. He became a third mate in charge of navigation.
He recounts the story of being on a ship headed to England with two superior officers from other countries who because of various reasons were not able to navigate....he held the responsibility of navigating the ship he was assigned to which was in a convoy headed to England in the dark....during the "black outs" for safety from bombings. He admitted he was terrified...not wanting to hit the ships on either side and to safely arrive at their designated destination.... he succeeded as did so many young men and women who were experiencing the same fears and uncertainties. They just did their jobs!
The Merchant Marine Sailors had a very tough time (and a lot of criticism for wanting their regular wages). A great uncle captained 3 ships that were torpedoed and sunk. It seems he was rather quickly rescued from the first, spent nearly a month in a lifeboat after the second, appearing as a fraction of his former healthy self, and was lost forever the third time.
My father told me that the warships escorting convoys kept a safe distance from those they were protecting... His were the convoys that rounded North Cape, where the Kriegsmarine had a base, taking supplies to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk.
I'll have to try to find out which ships my great uncle served on to see if he had sailed in any of those convoys. I did attend a meeting where they invited a Navy gunner who had volunteered to serve on Merchant Marine ships (thinking they would not see as much hostile action). One he served on had wooden a replica of a cannon (Quaker Cannon) and nothing bigger than a .50 caliber machine gun for "real" defense.
Right there with you on the tears, Ally. I posted the link because I feared it wasn't getting the press it deserved. In that short 54 seconds, I clearly saw the reality of one man who had played a part in liberating one country having been invaded by another, and another man trying to defend his country from being invaded. I so wish others could see it as clearly as we do here...morning!
I sat at my desk in my office and wept as I watched Zelenskyy’s exchange with an old warrior. They both stand for the fight against fascism and tyranny. I weep now for my fellow citizens who only love themselves and blindly follow a would-be dictator towards the dissolution of this great country at the directions of our home-grown oligarchy.
VOTE! It will prove to be the only way past the existential threat T💩p poses.
The Republicans think they are patriots, but what they are really are are chauvinistic nationalists who don’t understand that patriotism requires sacrifice, willingness to own up to mistakes and to improve things for all. All the self-described “patriots” of MAGA want is to do is grab our resources for the few and to lord it over everyone else while depriving the people a say in their own government,
To all who served, those that gave the greatest sacrifice and those who are still here to remind us about that terrible time, thank you.
It saddens my heart that there are people who seem to forget or not care about the lessons we learned that want to put donvict back into the white house.
Please vote and make sure everyone you know does the same.
Glad you passed along then! I recall a woman making a comment about TFFFG wanting to be a king & said she’d call him “your Heinous”….got a belly laugh outta that!
Excellent, thank you Heather.
I am always humbled every June 6th, thinking about the sacrifices my parents' generation made for us. Today, thinking of a twice-impeached, many-times-disgraced former president—and now a convicted felon—running for president as a fascist makes me believe that the millions who died defending against the tyranny of fascist leaders are not only rolling in their graves but are ready to jump out and fight.
Vote.
I was reminded, reading this letter, of the reality of war in my own family. My father and my uncle both volunteered, both served, only one returned home from the battles of the Pacific.
My father died in 2014 . He never wanted to talk much about the war . His generation was characterized by quiet service without chest beating. Common men and women who were heroes when heroes were required. My fervent hope is that the world they enabled will be preserved by those of us who were beneficiaries of their service and sacrifice.
Thanks to Heather for this poignant reminder.
My father was disabled in WWII while serving in the Navy in the Pacific theater. He lost 3 fingers on his right hand. When he returned from WWII in spite of having an accounting degree he had a lot of trouble getting a job. He eventually went to work for the IRS where he worked for over 30 years. Our family received a monthly stipend for his disability of a whopping $30 a month during the 1950's. He never complained about his injury but he never talked about the war either.
My mom's brother served in the US Army during WWII and contracted malaria. He too was disabled but not seriously enough to receive any benefits.
"War is hell," a phrase repeated time and again. But usually not by those who saw action. They tend to be mum.
Every time I read that convicted felon draft dodger Trump calls those who serve "suckers and losers" I wonder how ANYONE can support this POS.
I had an uncle who was hero in the South Pacific. He served 20 years in the Navy, then returned home and bought a farm, which he worked for 40+ years. He never talked much about the war until he was in his 70s and 80s, when he would flirt with waitresses, by telling them a little about his war experience. The waitresses were charmed. But he was charming.
Most people in our community knew about some things about his war experiences, but I don't think any of us knew the full extent.
He was a modest, humble man of great honor. After my father died, he became my kids' "grandpa.". I don't think any of us can talk about Uncle Joe without smiling.
Thanks for sharing a portion of your family’s story. I also wonder how anyone can support TFG. There is a short circuit somewhere within supporters’ value system.
Gary, my late father-in-law served in the Pacific during WW2, and similarly never wanted to talk about it, which I respected despite my enduring curiosity. He did tell the story of returning home to the East Coast by train, on a cot , fevered by malaria as he rode across the country.
I think the stories are impactful and I don’t want to overlook the burden on those who stayed home, raised families, worked on assembly lines, and prayed for the return of loved ones. In quiet moments it’s easy for me to be overwhelmed with what was given to us. We were blessed by “The Greatest Generation”.
My wondering too. What are they missing in human ‘sensitivity’… must only be basic early childhood education.. “give that seat to your friend.. “ Share & Care in musical chairs…
A lot of that silence i think was a form of "battle trauma"... ordinary people were subjected to emotional horrors which they had somehow to accommodate in their subsequent civilian and family lives. An oral history movement picked up in the 70s and later to throw more human light on what these men mainly had to endure.
My parents both served in Italy. My dad after North Africa. He led infantry platoons, wounded twice. My mom was his nurse. We can only imagine the horrors of the wounds she had to treat.
They rarely spoke of their experiences - even when asked. For them, it was their way of dealing with the trauma. And remember that their generation was supposed to just suck it up and move on.
Anyway, that's how they met. And my sister and I are the results. It's weird to owe my existence to a world war. But that's life.
Bill, reading your comment and others like it about the “keeping it to themselves” of their war experiences, my mind’s eye saw the way a tree can grow around a rock or other solid object, fully encasing it, yet continuing to grow….and observers are often not fully aware of it. ❤️🩹
Bill, We share somewhat similar experiences. Father was a tail gunner in a B17.
Mother trained pilots in nite navigation . As boys , my brother and I would admire my father's medals and the knife he brought back from the army air corp. Father didn't talk much about his service beyond explaining why he had a 6" scar in his side. He was lucky. Year later when I'd ask him why he went he just said he was young and naive. He was able to bury the trauma for a while and became quite successful . Later when life became more challenging his PTSd took over and ruined his life. He'd awaken in the middle of the nite from dreams of dropping bombs onto German cities and seeing formation aircraft descending in flames. I can't understand why we have retained this seemingly senseless need for war but it persists to our own peril.
Frank, "battle trauma" now called PTSD. A very serious condition.
Gary Anderson - I feel compelled to write a personal response. We know a little more now about what those who saw battle and killed other human beings suffered -- unspeakably suffered -- named in more recent years "PTSD". My favorite uncle (born in 1920) was one of them. And he never spoke within my earshot of the atrocities he witnessed. (Nor do I think he did with my parents during his furloughs with us or after the war.) But several years after the war he suddenly disappeared from his post-war family of wife, 6 adopted children, 7 children of his own, his parents, his sister, 2 brothers, 2 nieces (including me), and a sister-in-law. At some point, a jacket was found hanging from a tree branch above the Niagara Falls with hand written ID in a pocket. We all knew he didn't (wouldn't) take that route, but he totally disappeared, not contacting anyone. Then a number of years later his body was found hanging in a San Francisco hotel room. The ID of his assumed name was fake of course, but his fingerprints eventually were identified through War records. PTSD in my opinion is the number one silent killer, going undetected for years, maybe forever. (Thank you for indulging this personal story.)
My heart goes out to you and so many others who experienced traumatic family events as a result of the war to preserve the world. Thank you for describing your reality. I appreciate you taking the time to share it with those of us who are here.
They were fighting for the democratic Republic. They didn’t need to protest.
Truly. My prayers continue this thread daily , often minute by minute when I’m frightened by the daily ‘news’.. I will be ‘leaving’ sometime soon and pray for a kinder WORLD for my 4 & 7 y/o grsons.
I too was reminded about my father's service as a Marine. He was a sergeant of an anti-aircraft gun crew in the South Pacific, was wounded with a ricochet & killed the Japanese man who shot at him. Had a belly scar & a purple heart (which I didn't see until after he died in 1993). He never spoke of the war- I only heard about it from my mother & later read some of his journal notes where he named his fellow Marines who had been killed in action. Maybe I was afraid to ask. I sometimes wonder if he lived the rest of his life in service to others as atonement for killing another. He never allowed us to have guns. He was a kind gentleman & supportive father. I was fortunate.
Beautifully written, Gary Anderson !
Thank you, Gary et al., for these stories of our brave kinsmen and kinswomen. As that 'Greatest Generation' passes out of living historical memory, it is the emergent oral tradition of what these Americans did that keeps the legacy alive, relevant, inspiring.
Bravos to President Joe Biden & to author HCR!
Yes! Jump out and fight! All of us!
Let’s not get complacent now!
Fight for sure, and fight smart. The enemy is entrenched.
At the very least, Michael, I hope they return to haunt his dreams. Not that it would prompt a change in him, as I believe he is incapable of that psychologically…but I like the idea of him being chastised by those brave and honorable souls.
Michael- And what a contrast to this dumb era's MAGAts cosplaying military patriotism. Sacrificing nothing.
It’s 3:30 in the morning & I’m lying in bed crying after reading Biden’s speech. Two years we buried my dad, the last of 3 WWII vets in our family.
His casket had a been draped in the same 48 star flag that covered the caskets of his brother who died in the war and his sister who served in the WAVES. Of the three, my dad was the only one born in the US.
Dad had watched while the Capital stormed and was horrified that what he had fought for was in such danger and more horridly, by Americans.
I was watching the whole thing online, it was appalling and very obvious Trump was behind it. I also could not imagine Trump giving a speech like President Biden did. Trump thinks the people who died in battle are “losers and suckers.” He and his family have never served. I have never served, but I respect those who have.
Didn’t he refuse to go to a ceremony there because there was a light rain and he was worried about his hair. Or did I dream that??
No, you didn’t dream that. He’s a horrible person.
When Academics and journalists compared what we are living thru to Germany in the 1920s and 30s I initially thought maybe. Now I see that the unimaginable is occuring in our country. The ease with which the national socialists were able to control the narrative and manipulate the german people is scary. The fringe right in this country is now mimicking, almost verbatim, the words used by Hitler and Hess while they were taking power from the Weimar Republic.
Thank you, wish MSM would mention it
Not a dream. Neither was the "losers and suckers" part.
MsM will mention the s and l comment, but haven’t heard any mention of his hair priority
I saw it when he went. Not sure which channel.
Wish MSM would remind MAGAts what a “hero” the cretin was. A Whinny bastard no matter the subject…
He did Jeri. You didn’t dream it.
Thank you, sometimes I think, surely that can’t be true. But yep, it usually is
You've said it all. Thank you.
❤️🩹☮️
You always provide a moving historical and human context. My father was in the pacific during ww2 so my family stories aren’t of Normandy or the war in Europe. My mother was a coast watcher, a volunteer corps known as the Aircraft Warning Service who watched for incoming planes after Pearl Harbor along the pacific coast. So far as I know no planes were ever detected this way but it was a morale booster and a way for civilians to participate. I think hearing and reading about these stories helps remind us what we need to protect, and I’m not referring to foreign aggression, except as it applies to disinformation. Thank you for yet another snippet of context from history as it ties into today’s events.
My dad went into Rome after he was wounded in North Africa and had frostbite in the Italian mountain campaign. My mom's older brothers were in the US Army air corps in England, flew cover for D-Day. My dad had one brother who had been wounded in the Navy and another in Burma at the time. My mother in law served under Jimmy Stewart in England, my father in law was at Utah Beach.
I was born in 1943. Many of my classmates lost their dads, some in France but most at the Battle of the Bulge.
I am a Vietnam veteran. Only 80, but pretty sure I'm the last one left from my unit.
Not suckers or losers. Please pass it on.....
@Daniel Solomon - Wow. Now I'm crying all over again.
We've sacrificed TOO much the let the wannabe dictator turn the USA into the new AXIS with Russia and North Korea.
Your words put more steel into my spine as we continue this fight for democracy and freedom.
Thank you for your service.
My family has veterans from the Revolutionary war to active military today. I had three uncles and one aunt who served in WWII. I get weepy when I read about D-Day every year. They returned home safely but not after an uncle spent 2 years in a POW Camp. I have lots of memories of my relatives who we saw often. Uncommmon Valor.
"Uncommon valor." Yes.
"Uncommon valor was a common virtue" is a saying that I've seen many times.
Daniel, that is quite a gold star history you’ve descended from. I’m in awe. Despite my decidedly mixed feelings about the whole business of war, I found myself tearing up over and over again yesterday - the D-day news reels, those ancient living veterans, watching the Bidens and Macrons walking in hand in hand, the French and American anthems, Biden’s speech. It’s a comfort to find there is still some patriotism within me in these awful times.
Thank you, Daniel, for the service you provided as well as your family. I wish we had that America again - the one who recognizes service, honors it, and chooses to serve.
Daniel My cousin, a Quaker, was with the First Marine Division that landed in Guadalcanal in November, 1942. His platoon then was ‘island hopping’ for nearly two years.. Jim was the only member who wasn’t badly injured or killed. Another cousin was exec officer on a sub. Soon after Pearl Harbor, his sub was sunk. He was one of four survivors. We didn’t know for two years that he was alive.
My dad had served in WW I as a pilot. Over age, he signed up for the Eighth Air Force in July, 1942. Though in a staff role, he talked his way onto a daylight raid over Hamm, Germany as a waist gunner. 169 crew members took off, only 68 returned, though some planes had gone to other airfields.
As a Foreign Service Officer, during a 1964 Congo foreign hostage rescue operation, I captured several rebels at gun point.
I salute all those Americans who Bone Spur Donnie has categorized as ‘suckers’ and ‘losers.’
Keith, I love that the stories posted here of their (and your) experiences & those of their families bring them to life, like a gift to the reader (me)…a treasured offering in the telling.
Thank you for your service, and your family’s sacrifice. No, not suckers or losers, never.
Thanks for all the comments. I've been asking people to repeat "not suckers or losers," especially on Facebook, where I am banned. 4 million people on Facebook are veterans or active duty members. 12.5 million people on Facebook are family members of a veteran or an active duty member. 242 million people on Facebook are friends with one or more veterans or active duty members.
I am banned on FB too, called chump’s verbiage Nazi blather almost four years ago. It is the family members and descendants of WW2 veterans who are chump supporters that chap me most.
Jeri I am not banned on FB because I never joined. Same with TIKTOK. Never Twitter or X.
I enjoyed both until they became cesspools. I never followed idiots. Did follow and un follow some family. Amazing how they turned into crazy for Repub propaganda. Zero tolerance, for them and for Elon and Zuck
Don the Con, of German ancestry, is a known compulsive liar and fraud. As President he never failed to shame us when he went overseas. https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/05/politics/trump-marines-cemetery-france/index.html
Thank you for serving in Vietnam. I'm sad to think you may not have had a warm welcome when you returned but I hope you know that you are very appreciated. My brother served there as well and oddly is a Trump supporter to the end. I can never put those two things together but I love my brother dearly.
Try showing him the many testimonials from people who voted twice for Trump but now support Biden. https://rvat.org/
Republicans vow to sunset all benefits.
If that doesn't work, try "Trump hates dogs" or "Do you support stealing from kids with cancer?"
Daniel, it was my privilege to know a man who led his platoon in a jump onto Omaha beach and who lost a son in Vietnam. He was a clarinet player in several of the community groups I played in. Never talked about any of it; the only way I learned about his son was at his wife's memorial service.
Thank you Daniel
"So far as I know no planes were ever detected this way but it was a morale booster and a way for civilians to participate."
And it could have been a lifesaver. I think primitive RADAR was being developed in the 1930s. but I don't know how widely it was deployed.
Beautiful.
Sioux, my Dad enlisted in the Army at the age of 26, was detailed USAAC, and was trained as a meteorologist. His overseas service was in China, where he worked on setting up the weather stations that helped the bombers fly "over the hump". He never talked about his experiences, either, and he was not in a real combat role.
I found an article on the coast watchers in Oregon.
https://sos.oregon.gov/archives/exhibits/ww2/Pages/threats-bombs.aspx
Thank you for this. I’m also from Oregon although when my mom did this she lived in California, long before I was born. Then she went on to work as a riveter making war planes at Boeing.
My Mom was a telephone operator in LA.
This is a day to remember and you have so wonderfully documented the significance of this. Joe Biden is a great leader because a president is a servant to the people, versus the former president who believed people served him. I also want to add that your YouTube talk today you should post because you Heather are seeing patterns that are essential for us to know. Thanks!
Please post your YouTube talk!
https://youtu.be/jABSOUFseM4?si=oGj0lfDqn73ul6ES
Here's Heather's latest YouTube video.
Wendy Eck. -- Thanks for this link to this YouTube video. I didn't know about Heather's YT channel, and will now seek out how to subscribe to it somehow.
I think Heather posts the same videos on both FB and YouTube.
According to this video, she's considering posting shorter videos more frequently.
Wendy, I am already following her on FB, but I never see anything from her feed. And I didn't see a way to "follow" her on YouTube. I'll figure it out. T'would be nice if she would alert us in her letters. (I have a lot of FB friends, so maybe it's FB being selective on what they feed to me.)
On both FB and YouTube, try entering her name in the search 🔍. Great idea for Heather to let us know how to access her work other than through substack
Hope she continues to do that.
Let us also honor Al Persichitti from Rochester, New York who was 102 years old. He was a veteran who served on Iwo Jima. He died en route to France for this event, the 80th anniversary.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cqlle8dljnno.amp
Wow a soldier until the end!
"The doctor was with him... he was at peace and he was comfortable,"...
"She put his favourite singer, Frank Sinatra, on her phone and he peacefully left us."
How sad, but how fitting. Thank you for sharing this.
Oh wow, how sad he passed away in route to Normandy. My condolences to Al’s family, may he rest in peace.
Good for Heather celebrating the individuals in Normandy today celebrating other individuals.
That's what democracy is -- resting on the potential of individuals to make their own lives, and to respect, honor, celebrate other individuals.
And now we find ourselves engaged in another fight with pernicious fascism -- but at home, in the U.S., with pious hypocrite thugs like House Speaker Mike Johnson, the corrupt of the Clarence court all lying and providing cover for the fat, orange convicted criminal -- and so many allied others contemptuous of American law, traditions, our now-beleaguered American women and their families.
So please, now, readers and fellow commenters on Heather's "Letters from an American": read Diane Ravitch’s "The Language Police.” It reports on all those who lay the imaginative groundwork for the new fascists. These are our committee assemblers of corporate textbooks, and all our vetting, vetted, calculating standardized testers. They all occupy nothing but abstractions. All so pitifully distance themselves so far, far from any individual humans, and equally far, far from all our humanities, so they've zero human truths -- instead forming their own massive black hole of demented delusion to further their 34-count and counting convicted criminal-in-chief.
Thanks for your reference to "The Language Police" - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1304525.The_Language_Police?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=V0xrfuivto&rank=1
I believe it is a driving force in the dilemma of our politics, but I haven't heard anyone propose an effective solution.
Solution, Jeff: center humanities in education.
Specifically, have essay writing programs to nurture the skills for quoting others as to their specific, individual concerns. First, in one classroom essay these personal differences in writing (introductory self introductions), then discussions of first essays, then re-writes for quoting others in the room.
Send rewritten essays to group of "others" elsewhere (others writing, discussing similarly in nearby culture), for new rounds of essays quoting from the other culture. Israeli Jews quoting Israeli Arabs. Russians quoting Ukrainians. Japanese quoting Chinese or Koreans. All in English.
Sounds great but how do you implement that in Red states that are focused on limiting public education?
Today's corrupt, dark-money billionaires hide behind "states' rights," Jeff.
They merge perfectly with the enslavers of yore, as Heather detailed in "How the South Won the Civil War."
I hew to Lincoln, who believed in the programs of a strong enough federal government to uphold rights "of the people, by the people, for the people."
In education we've had the gross opposite. All the standardized testing programs have squeezed, desiccated, dehumanized our schools. They've all targeted schools to be reduced to tools of the billionaires, by the billionaires, for the billionaires.
Even team Biden has nobody with any humanities. Just money grubbers. All the Republicans have become living dead. Team Biden? Not much better.
Thank you..
Do you have a link to this?
" . . . to this," progwoman?
I'm guessing you refer to the Diane Ravitch book. I have a well-used, much-annotated hardcover edition of its original 2003 publication. Only link to it is the set of stairs going up to the bedroom where it's long been with other treasures beside where I sleep -- and typically also awaken for various middle-of-the-night readings.
Just got it on my new Kindle Scribe for $4.99. This version doesn't let me mark it up like the PDF files I send to it (and have my handwritten notes converted to New Courier font text, a capability that seems to have come with a periodic update). This version doesn't seem to let me add notes other than ones that are then indicated by a tiny icon (now it seems a larger but still small icon has been one of the updates).
It may not be everyone's choice but its unique capabilities are worth the price point since it lets me store hundreds of books (and have access to more if near wifi, I think), with a very low power e-paper screen that lets me go weeks without having to recharge it. I'd suggest looking at Len Edgerly's videos to see what the limitations are and what improvements have been added over the years. I'd love to see the entire series of LFAA letters available on Kindle so I could read them on a slow boat to china with nothing more than a solar powered charger access every week or so.
Google Amazon and look up the title.
I just looked it up, and I'm going to get a copy. Diane Ravitch and I had a couple of very tense interactions back during the GHWBush administration when she and Lynn Cheney were advocating for dropping Civics from the curriculum. She eventually recanted, but it was too late for Civics. Neither of them, I felt, had any feel for the challenges of public school classrooms.
Good for you on your struggle for Civics. It was apparently gone in Ohio as early as the 60s, when I was in high school. I learned a little in U.S. History and more from my parents and did the rest on my own. Ravitch has made a career of committing herself to policies and projects she later recants. I guess that’s how she learns, but as you say, the damage is done. She really didn’t have a feel for the experience of teaching or learning in the public schools, though she went to them K-12. Her kids went to private schools. Her view on higher education were pretty second-hand as well, and borderline racist. But she was right, and staunch, on the toxin of charter schools.
Yes, I'm glad she took a stance away from charter schools that leech students and funds from public schools. I believe she also supports the teachers' union now. Both she and Lynn Cheney were infatuated with the ideas of E.D. Hirsch and Allen Bloom, and by coincidence today I saw an article by Will Gordon in the current Atlantic that revisits their theories. Gordon first speaks about Neil Postman, the Canadian author of Amusing Ourselves to Death, which dealt with television. He didn't live to see the internet, but Gordon thinks he might have been more sympathetic to Bloom's suggestions than Hirsch's, which mostly advocate making sure students can identify long lists of cultural references. The article's definitely worth a read.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1304525.The_Language_Police?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=V0xrfuivto&rank=1
DJT is a wanna be dictator...he loves absolute power and being above everyone else. It's all he knows and understands. We must stop him from ever holding public office again....and it appears the ballot box is going to be the only way to do it. We have 5 months. If our ancestors could defeat a tyrant on the scale of Hitler, we can and must finish off DJTs political career. One 4 year term was too much. We don't need to build thousands of Liberty Ships or B-17's and no one needs to die. We just need to "nip it in the bud" as Barney would say. Peace
"he loves absolute power and being above everyone else"
That is the product so-called "Republicans" are selling these days, and it's our species' Achilles Heel. "The master race". the master sex", the conceit that one is doing God's bidding by oppressing (or killing) others, and the calculation of every human value in dollars and cents. It always gets ugly, and yet it seems many societies never learn.
Even as a young child I couldn't figure out the "my religion is right and yours is wrong" attitudes among "spiritual" people & leaders. If there is a singular creative spirit, the fact that "the" creator made us all, seems pretty obvious...and why would any creator make some "less than" on purpose? I started to look at the differences as basically tribal...or the region your people came from. The basics of the Golden Rule can be found in most societies. As we intermingled more and more and blended you would think that the old ideas would melt away...but alas it appears that some need to feel and act superior....and fear of "the other" is a powerful motivator.
My favorite Twain quote. “The easy confidence with which I know that another man’s religion is folly makes me suspect that my own is also.” Says it all for me
Never heard that before. Good one. Thanks, Jeri.
Love Twain, he nailed so much…
Jeri, closest I can ever come to religion/belief is “may the Force be with you”….the yin/yang of everything & nothing.
I’ll bet Twain would have agreed. I do…
That is a great quote, Jeri. Religion is folly.
It really explained so much for me…
Mike the "I am right" problem in Christianity goes back to the very beginning. Read your Old and New Testaments. In many ways monotheism is a "virus of the social mind".
The concept of hierarchy, that some groups/people's are better/superior than others is the underlying indicator for authoritarian belief. And it is strong in America and across the world. But it is learned. No baby is born that way. In the book "On Fascism: 12 Lessons From American History" by Matthew McWilliams, he provides an Index of American Authoritarian Attitudes (before chapter 1):
34% of Americans agree that having a strong leader who does not have to bother with Congress and elections is a good way of governing the U.S.
46% of Americans are inconsistent supporters of democracy and democratic institutions.
44% of Americans agree that increasing racial, religious, and ethnic diversity represents a threat to security of the US.
30% of Americans agree with the statement "I often find myself fearful of other people of other races."
28% of Americans agree that many women are actually seeking special favors, such as hiring policies that favor them over men, under the guise of asking for "equality."
23% of Americans agree that sometimes other groups must be kept in their place.
16% of Americans agree an ideal society requires some groups to be on top and others to be on bottom.
14% of Americans agree some groups of people are simply inferior to other groups.
Chilling statistics. I have a garden flag that says "Equal rights for all does not mean fewer rights for you. It is not pie.
Mike not wanna be. IS. He ran his company that way and he has acted like a dictator during his first term. It was some of the better people that held him in check. Otherwise, he would have stayed in office.
If there is a Pulitzer or a Nobel prize in history for Substack writers, you should clearly be at the top of the list for an award. What wonderful writing and insightful history.
Thank you.🙏
TAKES ONE TO KNOW ONE: U.S. veteran in a wheelchair. When the man tried to kiss Zelensky’s hand, the Ukraine president instead stooped and hugged him. “You’re the savior of the people,” the man said. Zelensky answered, “You saved Europe.” The exchange continued: “You’re my hero.” “No, you are our hero.”
Trumpers, MAGAs and GOP would find their kindred spirits in Hitler, Mussolini and the cowardly collaborators.
This was so beautiful to witness…And there was my wonderful Prime Minister Justin Trudeau standing behind him. He’s not perfect by any means but has a kindness about him that I deeply respect…
Rhonda thank you! So well said.
It just occurred to me that we hold Biden to such a high standard that anything but perfect is a deficiency and the “other” is allowed to have another standard. I hear this a lot “not perfect but…” I myself have said this on a number of occasions and I think we should just think of Biden as the citizen at the moment that our country and world needs and only God is perfect with perhaps the exception that He allowed Trump and MTG to inhabit this world in our lifetime. Maybe that’s our punishment for “the fall”
Velensky was honorably spot on.... that said, we can thank the entire organizational effort, from leaders and collective policies made, down to the very nitty gritty.
Wow. Thank you. Such a touching and inspirational letter.
Prez. Biden's speech was very moving and the scenes I've seen from the ceremonies make me proud to support a president that is a truly good person and who understands very deeply the importance on honoring our history and those who made it happen. I liked the way he not only honored those who fought on the front line, but also the many who toiled away in relative anonymity, but whose efforts were essential to the overall effort.
Written yesterday, published again now (with slight editing):
*
Today is the 80th anniversary of D-Day, the landing of 150 000 men on the beaches of Normandy, from which they were to advance, fighting all the way, until the Allied armies met the Red Army on the Elbe in the heart of Germany.
My father, a British naval officer, worked in Combined Ops at the Admiralty in London, among those planning the logistics of that great invasion, in which the fleet brought its harbor with it… He didn’t take part in it, but was detailed to take part in the invasion of Japan. He expected to die there, facing other islanders…
Much later in life, he seemed not to understand me when I spoke of the spirit but to have accepted the logic of superior material power, and I asked him: “Why, then, if you are so impressed by military might, did you not consider suing for peace after Dunkirk?” (Dunkirk: the hurried evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force at end May, early June 1940, leaving France overrun by Hitler’s Blitzkrieg.)
He paused for a moment, then said:
“We knew that it would be hard, we knew that we faced a terrible enemy. Yet throughout the whole length of the war, neither I nor any one of my comrades doubted for one moment that we would overcome.”
I wish us that spirit.
Peter Burnett,
I remember the story my father-in-law shared, that as a young man recently married to his sweetheart, my husband's mom,....about being transported from a small town in Iowa where his father was a shopkeeper to The Merchant Marine Academy located at Kings Point, in New York. He became a third mate in charge of navigation.
He recounts the story of being on a ship headed to England with two superior officers from other countries who because of various reasons were not able to navigate....he held the responsibility of navigating the ship he was assigned to which was in a convoy headed to England in the dark....during the "black outs" for safety from bombings. He admitted he was terrified...not wanting to hit the ships on either side and to safely arrive at their designated destination.... he succeeded as did so many young men and women who were experiencing the same fears and uncertainties. They just did their jobs!
The Merchant Marine Sailors had a very tough time (and a lot of criticism for wanting their regular wages). A great uncle captained 3 ships that were torpedoed and sunk. It seems he was rather quickly rescued from the first, spent nearly a month in a lifeboat after the second, appearing as a fraction of his former healthy self, and was lost forever the third time.
My wife's grandfather was Merchant Marine in WWII. I never met him, but I've heard stories...
My father told me that the warships escorting convoys kept a safe distance from those they were protecting... His were the convoys that rounded North Cape, where the Kriegsmarine had a base, taking supplies to Murmansk and Arkhangelsk.
I'll have to try to find out which ships my great uncle served on to see if he had sailed in any of those convoys. I did attend a meeting where they invited a Navy gunner who had volunteered to serve on Merchant Marine ships (thinking they would not see as much hostile action). One he served on had wooden a replica of a cannon (Quaker Cannon) and nothing bigger than a .50 caliber machine gun for "real" defense.
An American Hero. Something the "Sucker and Loser" FELON will never be.
Here is a clip of President Zelensky of Ukraine engaging with that veteran of WW II. I heard it went viral worldwide.
https://youtu.be/KBofHkLqXZE?si=okXY8vW7oNtCfl5E
So much captured in that brief moment.
Thank you, Lynell. So moving, I'm brought to tears.
Good morning, Lynell. I watched the link (for which I thank you) and the tears started again.
Right there with you on the tears, Ally. I posted the link because I feared it wasn't getting the press it deserved. In that short 54 seconds, I clearly saw the reality of one man who had played a part in liberating one country having been invaded by another, and another man trying to defend his country from being invaded. I so wish others could see it as clearly as we do here...morning!
I share your wish, my friend.
Find the cost of freedom
Buried in the ground
Mother Earth will swallow you
Lay your body down.
CSNY
I sat at my desk in my office and wept as I watched Zelenskyy’s exchange with an old warrior. They both stand for the fight against fascism and tyranny. I weep now for my fellow citizens who only love themselves and blindly follow a would-be dictator towards the dissolution of this great country at the directions of our home-grown oligarchy.
VOTE! It will prove to be the only way past the existential threat T💩p poses.
The Zelenskyy-Veteran moment was a joy and tears.
Biden’s speech was excellent, and Macron’s speech and awarding medals was just perfect.
So was Biden's interview with David Muir on Utah Beach yesterday. Clear, direct answers to tough questions from Muir.
The contrast between President Biden standing up for democracy and Trump pandering to Putin is glaring.
Dishonoring D‑Day: MAGA Republicans Choose Putin Over Patriots
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/06/06/dishonoring-d-day-maga-republicans-choose-putin-over-
The Republicans think they are patriots, but what they are really are are chauvinistic nationalists who don’t understand that patriotism requires sacrifice, willingness to own up to mistakes and to improve things for all. All the self-described “patriots” of MAGA want is to do is grab our resources for the few and to lord it over everyone else while depriving the people a say in their own government,
Republicans are PINOs--Patriots In Name Only. They wave the flag to get votes.
They are jingoists, not patriots, just like chump
To all who served, those that gave the greatest sacrifice and those who are still here to remind us about that terrible time, thank you.
It saddens my heart that there are people who seem to forget or not care about the lessons we learned that want to put donvict back into the white house.
Please vote and make sure everyone you know does the same.
Beth….love “donvict”…..perfect!
Wish I could claim credit for it.
Saw someone post it in thr comments on an article.
Glad you passed along then! I recall a woman making a comment about TFFFG wanting to be a king & said she’d call him “your Heinous”….got a belly laugh outta that!