06 June 2009 -- Today is the 75th anniversary of the landings in Normandy, known in history now simply as ‘D-Day.’ There have been a number of moving ceremonies covered in the news, mainly because of the presence of a number of participants, US, British, French, Canadian and presumably some other allies who landed on that fateful gray day – Australians, Belgians, Czechoslovakians, Greeks, New Zealanders, Dutch, Norwegian and Polish.
Those men, all in their 80s and 90s now, were properly thanked and lauded. The commentators then began discussing what it was that made them, in those now iconic words, ‘The Greatest Generation.’
One particular gentleman, a member of the 2nd Rangers (the unit that took Pointe Du Hoc) made the point that the US had been toughened by surviving the depression and that that had made them mentally ready to face the struggle of World War II. (He was also quick to point out that he didn’t want to wish a depression on anybody no matter how much it might improve them.)
It is certainly true that the depression bread a level of resilience and fortitude in the US population that was and is hard to imagine, never mind duplicate. But, the fact is that the rest of the world went through the same depression, and in some cases faired worse than the US, yet did not recover from the depression as well as did the US. Why is that?
Perhaps the real root of the strength of this incredible generation was in their virtue. The Greek philosophers identified four great virtues: temperance, prudence, fortitude and justice. These were later expanded upon by the Romans, and recaptured in the writings of many of the great Christian writers of the Middle Ages. The words were occasionally changed but the meaning remained: to look toward the future, to prepare for the next generation, to think things through and try to make wise decisions that would benefit all, even if you had to bear some hardship, to show strength of character, recognizing others before self, to take care of yourself and others, and not expect others to take care of you, to do what is right, no matter the cost.
These were the beliefs of that generation. Did some of them stray? Certainly. Did some drink and chase women and gamble? Certainly. But, to a degree perhaps unmatched elsewhere in the last one hundred years any place on this planet with the exception of the British Empire under the inspired rule of Winston Churchill, despite their individual weaknesses and failures, when the situation demanded it, they acted as men of virtue, and the world was saved from a great darkness.
And the roots of that virtue is the found in the seminal documents of this great nation – the Mayflower Compact, the Suffolk Resolves, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and finally the Gettysburg Address.
We are and should be humbled by their service and their devotion to the cause of liberty. They provided an example that we must all strive to emulate. God Bless Them All. As Gen. Patton said at the funeral of several of his soldiers: “Let us not mourn the men who died. Rather, let us Thank God that such men lived.”
Those men, all in their 80s and 90s now, were properly thanked and lauded. The commentators then began discussing what it was that made them, in those now iconic words, ‘The Greatest Generation.’
One particular gentleman, a member of the 2nd Rangers (the unit that took Pointe Du Hoc) made the point that the US had been toughened by surviving the depression and that that had made them mentally ready to face the struggle of World War II. (He was also quick to point out that he didn’t want to wish a depression on anybody no matter how much it might improve them.)
It is certainly true that the depression bread a level of resilience and fortitude in the US population that was and is hard to imagine, never mind duplicate. But, the fact is that the rest of the world went through the same depression, and in some cases faired worse than the US, yet did not recover from the depression as well as did the US. Why is that?
Perhaps the real root of the strength of this incredible generation was in their virtue. The Greek philosophers identified four great virtues: temperance, prudence, fortitude and justice. These were later expanded upon by the Romans, and recaptured in the writings of many of the great Christian writers of the Middle Ages. The words were occasionally changed but the meaning remained: to look toward the future, to prepare for the next generation, to think things through and try to make wise decisions that would benefit all, even if you had to bear some hardship, to show strength of character, recognizing others before self, to take care of yourself and others, and not expect others to take care of you, to do what is right, no matter the cost.
These were the beliefs of that generation. Did some of them stray? Certainly. Did some drink and chase women and gamble? Certainly. But, to a degree perhaps unmatched elsewhere in the last one hundred years any place on this planet with the exception of the British Empire under the inspired rule of Winston Churchill, despite their individual weaknesses and failures, when the situation demanded it, they acted as men of virtue, and the world was saved from a great darkness.
And the roots of that virtue is the found in the seminal documents of this great nation – the Mayflower Compact, the Suffolk Resolves, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, and finally the Gettysburg Address.
We are and should be humbled by their service and their devotion to the cause of liberty. They provided an example that we must all strive to emulate. God Bless Them All. As Gen. Patton said at the funeral of several of his soldiers: “Let us not mourn the men who died. Rather, let us Thank God that such men lived.”
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