The older I get and the more that America slides away from its foundations the more I miss this man and so many of his generation that I looked up to and learned so much from while growing up.
There are no guarantees afforded from previous generations that freedom shall be maintained without challenge. Each generation arising as the American experiment continues has only the example of its forebears, their experiences handed down and the warnings of the perils they faced and endured to guide them in their upbringing.
Ronald Reagan was President when I was in high school and later in the Marines. As a young American I looked up to him, revered him and thanked God we had him in those times.
I remember being told by my grandparents what it was like to raise a family in the depression and send their sons off to war in Europe as both of my grandfathers had gone in the first world war. There was at that time a real evil loose in the world and no glimmer of hope that we would prevail. Quite to the contrary it looked like we were facing the unthinkable for so long all through it, almost right up to the end.
These days we face similar perils yet many would deny that. There are no breadlines to be seen today as in the 1930's. Today we have a "quiet depression" with benefit cards instead. There is no "brother can you spare a dime" as the guy ahead of you in the checkout line swipes his benefit card for the same cart of groceries as you.
V-E Day and V-J day were glorious affairs celebrated with ticker tape parades and everyone knew that good had prevailed over evil. Today our troops fight on as bravely as before even after "combat" has been declared to be over and our government declares that as we leave that front there shall be no declaration of victory. Few are paying much attention to the other front as our troops continue to fight on daily while their C-in-C keeps the enemy abreast of our departure plans. What will Afghanistan be worth on the world stage as the sun comes up tomorrow? Nothing. We can chase these illiterate cave dwellers around that wasteland until the end of time and it won't make a lick of difference back home. We went there to obliterate a varmint. We got him. Done deal. If the Neanderthals begin to gel again and pose a threat we can go in with a large scale raid, knock 'em down and get out. There is nothing there worth holding and the entire "country" as it is of Afghanistan is IMHO not worth one more flag draped American coffin. The world's civilized regions had no stake in Afghanistan before we went there and it will fade right back into it's place in 700 A.D. once we leave with no lasting impression of our investment of blood and treasure. It is a sh!thole not worth fighting for, not worth trading our best for their worst and not worth pouring billions of dollars into as we continue to be invaded from south of our border and sold down the river by a regime that hates America. Our fight is right here at home and it is raging right now.
[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UU0tuah-x7M[/youtube]
