My father is a WWII veteran. Although he was drafted too late to see any combat, he served from 1945 through 1948, during the state of emergency. He shared the mindset of all those who went to fight overseas - including, especially, five of his older brothers, and numerous friends and neighbors.
I consider myself very fortunate to have grown up as a child of a WWII vet. I especially feel fortunate to be on the tail end off the baby boomer generation. I had the grounded principles of my parents’ generation to guide me, without the distractions of the sixties to derail me. I still look to my father for advice. He is not perfect and I don’t always agree, but he is wise, intelligent, witty, compassionate and honorable. He is the best man I know.
While I was growing up, I remember my father writing many letters - some of them quite exceptional. He would write letters to newspaper editors, senators, representatives and presidents. He also read a lot, and listened a lot and thought a lot. My father did not see politics as tiresome or distracting. He enjoyed the debate and felt it is every citizen’s responsibility to be involved in the running of our democracy. As I grew up, I respected his views and opinions and followed him onto his conservative soapbox.
Times moved on, kids grew, married and moved out, grandchildren arrived, his wife passed away, but still he stayed interested. His involvement, however, steadily dropped off and he stopped writing. Maybe he felt he had made his contribution. Maybe he felt no one was listening. Maybe he felt he could no longer make a difference. Well, he is not alone, and I am not surprised.
Today's society is riddled with self-assured arrogance - most of it from the middle to upper end of my generation. Whether the topic is political, social, environmental, technological or economic, it’s very disheartening that fanatical voices get all the press. I don't suppose it would matter if someone else did speak. The squeaky wheels out there have had the floor for so long now; they don't feel obliged to listen.
Well, they should listen...to their parents. They should listen to the people who sacrificed more for this country in six years than any generation before or since. They should watch how these people conducted their lives, and learn from their examples. They should question the people who taught them to question, and explore their views through the eyes of familiar wisdom. And they should do it fast, because they won't be around forever.
But it isn't a one-way street. The Greatest Generation needs to speak up. They gave us a great gift six decades ago, but they fail their children if they don't continue to provide us council in how to wisely use that gift. Our society doesn't lack only moral leadership; we lack a certain amount of maturity.
The excesses of the sixties are primarily to blame. The idea that questioning authority is an obligation rather than a privilege is one example. Another is that "because I could" has become an acceptable excuse for doing the wrong thing. No one is perfect, not me, not you. But we no longer have perfection as a target, unreachable though it may be. Maybe our parents could help put us back on track.
So, let's reopen the dialogue. I charge those out there from the Greatest Generation with the task to start writing letters again. I challenge those from my generation, and others, to lay down your stubbornness and listen. The greatest gift my parents’ generation gave us was the continuation of our freedom. The greatest gift they can give us now, is their collected wisdom. The greatest gift we can give our children is to pay attention.
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