From the Mnanging Editor:
Timely reminders
We could all use a little jogging of our memories from time to time to help us keep the big picture in focus. Everyday life can seem so hectic and absorbing that forgetting many of the truly important aspects of history happens without our noticing. This last month, two widely televised events served to bring the past back to consciousness and remind us of how blessed we have been. The major events surrounding the sixtieth anniversary of the Normandy invasions of D-Day helped me remember what a tremendous debt of gratitude I owe and, for that matter, the whole world owes to those thousands of largely nameless, faceless young men - the majority of them much younger than my twenty-eight years. I listened in awe as accounts of heroism and selfless sacrifice for others were repeated over and over by the aging soldiers and surviving civilians. The willingness of these kids to give their very lives to preserve freedom is nothing short of miraculous.
The second event that the media also put before us in June was the death and funeral of President Ronald Reagan. His story is likewise awe-inspiring. Coming from nowhere to become the most powerful man in the world and managing largely through his shear strength of will to win perhaps the most dangerous war of all - the Cold War - without firing a shot, Ronald Wilson Reagan also truly deserves our deepest gratitude. Many commentators and historians interviewed on the broadcasts speculated that he will eventually be remembered along with George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Roosevelt as one of our greatest leaders.
So what do the D-Day soldiers and the fortieth president have in common that we should keep uppermost in our hearts and minds? A selfless belief in and devotion to that nation that is rightly referred to as “...the land of the free and the home of the brave.” A faith in the rightness of a cause that superceded personal desire or even the human instinct for self preservation in the face of death.
President Reagan and the vast majority of the young men who marched into battle in 1944 are now gone from this earth. Only a few witnesses - most in their eighties - remain to remind us of the selfless bravery of those earlier times in our nation’s history. And so it falls to us, the younger generation, to etch the memory of this “greatest generation” into our hearts. Both my grandfathers served proudly in World War II, and as I survey the abundant legacy that they have left me, I realize how indebted I am. And I hope that Americans generations from now will still be interested in preserving the memory of their sacrifices and their courage.
What can we do today to honor that legacy? Well, perhaps we could all work a little harder to truly behave as “...one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” Maybe we could approach every decision we make as though somehow we were also responsible for the future of this great nation. When we set our course with only self-interest as a guide, are we being faithful to the example of those who fought and died to give us the right to make such choices? When maximizing the money in our bank accounts is more vital to us than protecting the future of our nation, are we earning our place in future historical accounts of this country? When we fail to see the preservation of the United States as more important than a political agenda or an economic benefit we can reap, will we live to regret such actions? Just because we know we can “get away with something,” does it mean we should? If loopholes in the laws allow some to profit while the nation as a whole is penalized, should good and faithful citizens take advantage of such situations?
Now that civil rights for all races are so firmly fixed as a part of our national consciousness, many people in my father’s generation look back in amazement that they didn’t realize how widespread, unfair, and intolerable racial discrimination was. They also look back and regret that they didn’t stand up for what was right even though it would have been an unpopular stance to take. I just hope that my generation of high tech wheelers and dealers raised in abundance will not have similar regrets fifty years from now. I hope that we will keep before us the memory of what other generations have been willing to sacrifice to sustain our way of life, and I pray that we will also be willing to stand for what is right for America even if we must pay a price for doing so. DBJ
Joe Meek
Managing Editor
