Money quote(s):
"(A)s I grew up it wasn’t some point in ancient history, which is how our children will see it. To put it into perspective, think back on who you were in 1984. Then think about how you thought about the outbreak of World War I. That, back then, was 70 years ago as well. I can’t recall being taught much about the lessons of the Guns of August back when I was a strapping teen, and I don’t imagine that our kids will be taught much about December 7, 1941 today."
Growing up, CAA still had family members who not only served in the Second World War, but were already in uniform when the U.S. entered it. I still remember some of their stories; about fighting the Japanese, about the surrender in the Philippines, and about the Baatan Death March and the horrific captivity which followed.
Lessons?
(Don't Lose & Never Surrender.)
"Among the things we can learn was that this great nation of ours is a lot more resilient than most people think, and that includes myself in my darker moments.
We were attacked in an act of utmost perfidy, ambushed by an enemy who, although professing to worship honor, had none himself. We were hit hard, hit to the point where many wondered if we’d ever get up again from the initial blow, hit at a point in our history where our military was, compared to other nations already at war for two long years, barely in its infancy."
Resiliency is a word much bandied about in certain, Homeland Security, circles.
This does not, by itself, discredit the concept; far from it. If anything, it's a good sign that the quality, and its necessity, is recognized even today.
(A few words about DHS: While I am sympathetic to the notion that they have an impossible job, I also yield to no one when it comes to skepticism about how their missions are being implemented. Indeed, from a business-case standpoint, I wonder whether some of their self- and/or Congress-assigned missions are things that the federal government is best suited to do or whether they need to be done at all. By anyone. That being said, I suffer from a serious case of cognitive dissonance when I try reconcile the very serious and smart working agents and intelligence analysts whose work I admire which the absolute and apparent public bone-headedness exhibited by their policy-makers.)
"Few at the time thought that the United States would be a force to be reckoned with for years after that if ever, but all of the pessimists were proven wrong. In one year, the United States was strong, getting ready to fight a war on not one but two fronts. In a mere two years, the tide had turned and in a relatively short two more years, the United States would be the strongest military force this world had ever seen."
Ten years later the U.S. would have to re-build that military force, virtually from scratch.
There's a lesson there, for those paying attention to military funding debates.
"The resilience, the determination, the “can do” spirit, the love of country, the willingness to sacrifice and our endless optimism and belief in ourselves and the righteousness of our cause, that has always made us unique as a nation. That is what that poo-poo’ed “American Exceptionalism” is all about, and we’re blessed to have it because without it we wouldn’t be here."
There's also the little matter of being both a continental and a sea power, with an unmatched industrial bases and tremendous natural resources.
But without the human resources, those would not have sufficed.
"The Americans of 1941 didn’t moan and cry that defeat was inevitable, that the fleet was crushed, that our enemies were too strong and on the offensive (and you have to keep in mind that December of 1941 was the high water mark of the Axis Powers) and that the best we could do was to compromise, to drag out the inevitable and hope for the best.
They rolled up their damn sleeves and decided that, come what may, it was time to kick some ass. That victory would be ours no matter what it took, no matter how long it took, and that anything short of total, crushing, unconditional victory was NOT an option. Like the Brits at the time of the Battle of Britain when all seemed lost, we shrugged it off and went to work, confident in our cause and our ultimate victory." (Emphasis in original text. - CAA.)
As at least some of us still do today.
"Some say that we don’t have that spirit anymore. I wonder at times myself. But then again I look at our generation’s youngsters who keep going back into the breach, believing as those grandparents and great-grandparents of theirs, that victory comes only to those who never give up, that this is a fight worth fighting because the alternative to victory is not worth living with.
Yes, we have grown a bit soft as a result of decades of affluence and indifference to our nation’s enemies march through our institutions, but even though this is our darkest hour, we still have what it takes to beat back the forces of darkness and prevail in the end. It’s been done before. Our nation has faced perils larger than ours, yet here we are.
The only way we can lose is if we give up the fight before the fight is over." (Bold type added for emphasis. - CAA.)
It's that next "Greatest Generation" that even TIME magazine believed in for approximately 45 minutes. They haven't given up and if their victories are micturated away, there'll be Hell to pay.
_____
* Encouragement in the original sense of intended to instill courage.
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