So blessed to still have my Father around, the ship he was on pulled out of Pearl harbor 2 days before the bombing. At 97 he is still up, driving and pretty damn sharp!
Yes, Blessed Man,
The Greatest Generation. My father lived to 92. My uncles and aunts and their relatives lived thru WWII and I often heard how NO one knew with certainty what would happen, in the end.
And, I distinctly recall the nightly news, when I was a child... Every night they had a "scoreboard" showing... Killed, Wounded and MIA of the Vietnam war. And, people in the surrounding neighborhoods talking about who was killed or wounded or missing.
An older lady with a son who was a pilot was shot down in a Thunderchief. He was never found. She never knew if he was killed, taken prisoner, or what. His father died a few years after. People said he died of a broken heart and guilt of telling his son to go do his duty to the country. My mother would go help her with her garden and house chores and to get her hair done and to the doctor and grocery store. I was 6 or 7. Sometimes, she would hug me and burst into tears. It frightened me and I would just hug her back and ask her not to cry. It still upsets me. My mother explained to me what was wrong.
When I turned 18, they made it mandatory to sign up at the post office with selective service. I signed up the first day. That evening, at supper, my father said, you know you have to sign up for the selective service, don't you? I said I already did. My mother immediately left the kitchen and my father went to check on her. He said she was upset and crying from all of what happened in WWII and Vietnam. She was terrified she would lose me and the past wouldn't EVER be over.
I tried to avoid that subject. My father said it would be okay, she just was worried and it could not be avoided.
Finally, when Ukraine war started... I was ABSOLUTELY shocked when polls asked 18-35 year olds... If the United States were to be invaded, what would you do? The vast majority said, they would NOT fight for their country, but would leave.
I just cannot understand that.
🥲
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