THE NEW GREATEST GENERATION
OUR CAUSE WILL PREVAIL
By: Doug Patton
"You will never know how much it cost the present generation to
preserve your freedom! I hope you will make good use of it! --
John Adams
Adams knew about sacrifice. He watched his generation sacrifice
everything for the cause of liberty. Family, fortune, land,
their very lives. All of it was on the line, and the trade-off
of freedom for safety was never an option. Patrick Henry didn't
say, "Give me security or I'll write a letter to the editor."
It was liberty or death, to live free or die.
Each new generation has understood that concept. Those who
marched off to fight the American Civil War engaged in some of
the bloodiest sacrifices ever seen on American soil. Abraham
Lincoln had to devote his entire presidency to the cause of
holding the Union together, then lost his life at the age of
fifty-six.
In what was called "the great war" or "the war to end all
wars," again the ultimate sacrifice was required on the
battlefields of France and Germany.
And in the second global conflict, World War II, hundreds of
thousands of our fathers and grandfathers laid down their lives
to preserve this fragile freedom we take for granted every day.
The militias of the Revolution conquered the greatest empire in
the world at the time. The farmers and shopkeepers of the
1860's left their homes and fought like warriors they had only
read about. And the Greatest Generation rose out of the
grinding poverty of the American Depression to conquer the most
terrible and merciless military force ever to march across the
world.
As we contemplate a temporary reduction in the value of our
stock portfolios, it is important to remember that there is a
distinct difference between sacrifice, loss and inconvenience.
A slight delay at the airport is an inconvenience. The
shrinkage of a 401(k) is a loss. Laying down one's life in the
defense of liberty is a sacrifice.
There was no assurance when our fathers and grandfathers
marched off to World War II that the nation to which they
returned would be free. There was the very real possibility
that we could have lost that war to Hitler, Hirohito and the
other Axis powers. But I believe we prevailed then for a
reason, and I believe we will prevail now.
Freedom is not free. It is a truth each generation must learn
for themselves, a hard lesson taught on bloody battlefields
where heroism manifests itself in the extraordinary acts of
ordinary people. Those who will fight this war on terror will
rise to the occasion just as their fathers, grandfathers and
great-grandfathers prevailed on past battlefields.
There are worse things than death. There is life lived on one's
knees, subject to the rule of another. There is life lived in
terror, which is infinitely worse. Patrick Henry knew it. So
did Abraham Lincoln. The Greatest Generation knew it, too, and
so do the soldiers who will have to make the ultimate sacrifice
while we sit at home and contemplate the S & P 500.
Adams called us to make good use of the liberty that has been
purchased with so much sacrifice. A hundred years from now,
when time has put perspective on the events now unfolding, let
the historians write that those who fought the first great war
of the 21st Century were the new greatest generation, that they
met the challenge just as their fathers did in Vietnam, just as
their grandfathers did in Korea and on the battlefields of
Europe and the Pacific, and just as their great-grandfathers
did in World War I.
America has rarely faced a more evil presence in the world than
this fanatical enemy we face today. Now that the war has begun,
let us pray that our cause will prevail. Let us pray for the
army that will fight this terrible conflict, that their
sacrifice will be rewarded with victory. Let us pray that they
will be today's greatest generation.
Doug Patton has served as a speechwriter and policy advisor to
federal, state and local candidates and elected officials. He
founded the Nebraska chapter of the Christian Coalition in 1995
and served as its first executive director for nearly 3 years.
He was a candidate himself for the Nebraska Legislature in
2000.
As a freelance columnist, Doug Patton?s work goes out weekly to
over 1,500 newspapers. His columns can be read at various
internet web sites, including GOPUSA, .AmericasVoices,
.EnterStageRight, TikiTrash. He is a regular columnist for
Ether Zone.
Doug Patton can be reached at:dpatton@neonramp.com When e-
mailing him, please identify your city and state and where you
read his work.
Published in the October 16, 2001 issue of Ether Zone.
Copyright © 2001 Ether Zone (http://www.etherzone.com).
Reposting permitted with this message intact. |
