Today is my birthday. Another year on the meter of life. I am now officially “older than dirt” as my son is fond of saying. So, on this day of pondering what has happened during my lifetime, I have some observations to share.
I was born into a world at war, and the outcome of that conflict was very much in doubt. One of my earliest memories is having my chin stitched up after I fell while running and split it open. The seven stitches required to close the wound were administered without any anesthetic. That was being saved for more serious injuries, and for our troops overseas. In todays world, my parents would probably have sued the hospital for child abuse, but during that era such actions were considered reasonable because of the crisis, and indeed they were.
As I grew up in Colorado I was influenced by the actions of what has been called “The Greatest Generation”, the men and women who had suffered the indignities and privations of the “Great Depression” and then were thrust headlong into the greatest war ever fought on the planet. America was indeed the “Arsenal of Democracy” which provided a great measure of the arms and ammunition required to fight and win the conflict with the Axis Powers.
After the war, my uncles came home from the military, married and raised families of their own. The horrors they had witnessed were as horrific as any experienced before or since, but it was expected that they suck it up and go on with their lives, and most did. But their wounds, physical or mental, were still there. Another youthful memory is of my uncle Cliff waking up screaming after a nightmare about his service in the Pacific with the Marines. That happened a lot, and for some years after his return home.
Life in Colorado for a young boy in the 1950s was perhaps not idyllic, but I didn’t know any better. There was hunting and fishing, Boy Scouts and sports, and good clean mountain air to breathe. My family were all staunch Democrats. They worshiped the memory of FDR. However, Colorado was a “Cowboy Conservative” state, with self reliance and work ethic built into all segments of society. People could debate political issues without rancor or discord. Life was more than politics. Then, thankfully, I discovered the wonders of aviation. Flying became a lifetime passion which provided a career which lasted nearly fifty years. I feel blessed to have experienced it.
A forty-seven year and counting marriage to a wonderful woman has given me two children and two grandchildren. I have been blessed to see the four corners of this planet, and live a full, if not always perfect existence. As with others, I would like to have a few “do-overs” but they don’t exist. One can only move on to the next phase. That phase for me will encompass two vital concepts.
First, I will do all in my power to bring the truth about TWA 800 to light. Second, I have promised myself not to allow the left to take over this country without a fight. The America haters need to be confronted at every opportunity. Radical Islam must be held in check if not defeated. Moral, rational behavior must return. We cannot be a country where every bizarre concept is accepted as the “New Normal”. Tolerance has it’s boundaries. It is up to each of us to determine what those personal boundaries are. To allow organizations like the ACLU to bludgeon us into accepting practices or lifestyles which we instinctively know to be wrong is totally unacceptable.
Right now the Democratic Party has become so radicalized as to be unrecognizable to loyal Democrats of previous generations. Unfortunately, the Republicans have proven to be the party of all bark and no bite. The people have given them the power to stop the precipitous slide to the left, and restore our moral and Constitutional values. So far they have refused to do so. If this continues, it will be their undoing. Perhaps it is time for a new party in this country. Just as the Republican Party succeeded the Whig Party in the 1850s as the party on the right side of the political scale, a yet unnamed political movement can replace the Republicans. This has already happened to the Democrats, who have been replaced by the Socialists in everything but name.
Someone once observed that we only grow old on the outside. That certainly is true for me. The old geezer in the mirror has replaced the dashing aviator of yore, but the spark is still alive inside. I hope you will all join me in a quest to take back our wonderful country, and indeed “Make America Great Again”. It is a goal worthy of our efforts.