(Tom: This post I copied from a Facebook friend applies just as much in Australia and New Zealand and more so in Britain.
Shared by Humbled and Thankful)
I talked to an older man today…
I talked with an 80+ year old man. I asked him if there was anything I can get him while this corona-virus scare had the American people by the throat. He simply smiled, looked away and said:
“Let me tell you what I need! I need to believe, at some point, this country my generation fought for, …I need to believe this nation we handed safely to our children and their children will go on.
I need to know this generation will quit being a bunch of sissies, …that they respect what they’ve been given, …that they’ve earned what others sacrificed for.”
I wasn’t sure where the conversation was going or if it was going anywhere at all. So, I sat there, quietly listening…
“You know, I was a little boy during WWII. Those were scary times. We didn’t know if we were going to be speaking English, German or Japanese at the end of the war. There was no certainty, no guarantees like Americans enjoy today.
And no home went without sacrifice or loss. Every house, up and down every street, had someone in harm’s way. Maybe their Daddy was a soldier, maybe their son was a sailor, maybe it was an uncle. Sometimes it was the whole family, …fathers, sons, uncles…
Having someone, you love, sent off to war, …it wasn’t less frightening than it is today. It was scary as Hell. If anything, it was more frightening. We didn’t have battle front news.
We didn’t have email or cellphones. You sent them away and you hoped, …and you prayed. You might not hear from them for months, if ever again. Sometimes a mother was getting her son’s letters the same day Dad was comforting her over their child’s death.
And we sacrificed. You couldn’t buy things. Everything was rationed. You were only allowed so much milk per month, only so much bread, toilet paper. EVERYTHING was restricted for the war effort. And what you weren’t using, what you didn’t need, things you threw away, they were salvaged and sorted for the war effort. My generation was the original recycling movement in America.
And we had viruses back then, …serious viruses. Things like polio, influenza, measles, and such. But, it was nothing to walk to school and pass a house or two that was quarantined.
We didn’t shut down our schools. We didn’t shut down our cities. We certainly did not shut down our businesses! We carried on, without masks, without hand sanitizer. And do you know what? We persevered. We overcame. We didn’t attack our President, we worked together. Other elected officials didn’t try to sabotage his good works. We rallied around the flag. Thick or thin, we were in it to win. And we lost more boys in a day of combat than we lose in an entire war today.”
He slowly looked away again. Maybe I saw a small tear in the corner of his eye. Then he continued:
“Today’s kids don’t know sacrifice. They think a sacrifice is not having coverage on their phone while they freely drive across the country. Today’s kids are selfish and spoiled. In my generation, we looked out for our elders. We helped out with single moms who’s husbands were either at war or dead from war. Today’s kids rush to the store, buying everything they can, …no concern for anyone but themselves. It’s shameful the way Americans behave these days. None of them deserve the sacrifices their grandfathers made.
So, no I don’t need anything. I appreciate your offer but, I know I’ve been through worse things than this virus. But maybe I should be asking you, what can I do to help you? Do you have enough pop to get through this, enough steak? Will you be able to survive with only 100 channels on your TV?”
I smiled, fighting back a tear of my own, …now humbled by a man in his 80’s. All I could do was thank him for the history lesson, leave my number for emergency and with my ego firmly tucked in my rear.
I talked to a man today. A real man. An American man from an era long since gone and forgotten. We may never fully understand the sacrifices he saw and knew. We may never fully earn those sacrifices. But we should work harder to learn about them, …to learn from them, …to respect them.