December 7, 2020

I watched a lot of World War I movies when I was a kid. Films that were made during and just after the war were still popular on television, and the studios continued to make new ones.

From the perspective of a child, the war seemed like something that had happened in the distant past, but it hadn’t been that long at all. I was born less than nineteen years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. To put that time frame in perspective, it’s been more than nineteen years since the 9/11 attacks.

The Great War was still fresh in the minds of anyone old enough to have lived through it. Everyone had at least one family member who served in the war. Every American of my parents’ generation remembered the hardships, the rationing, the news from abroad. The war touched every aspect of life.

By the time I became aware of WWII, a lot had happened, the Cold War, the Korean War, the dawn of the Space Age. It’s natural for children to lack an awareness of history, especially when current times are changing rapidly. I was an adult before I was able to appreciate how short a time had passed between my own life and the greatest conflict in human history.

Thanks to all who served an sacrificed in the defense of liberty. Thanks to all who fought and died to defeat the greatest threat that humanity has every thrust upon itself.

December 7, 2020