Looking at History

I love history. Can't say that I always have but in recent years I become increasingly fascinated with the past. Maybe it is because I'm a part of history now. I have been there for some significant events that they teach in school now. The Kennedy assassinations,man landing on the moon,the Vietnam War and tearing down the Berlin Wall to name a few. Even though I was pretty young when Kennedy was shot I knew that it was a history making event.
Used to be history was recorded first by eye witness accounts to the event. Their views and opinions shaped what we knew about the event. It often included prejudiced judgements. As time passed the event usually changed just a little in the telling as these opinions were left out. The judgements became less harsh and less condemning. With the advent of Newspapers this changed somewhat and has continued to evolve into what we have today. In most cases we have eye witness accounts and video and audio taken either during the event or closely thereafter. Almost every conceivable angle receives some coverage and it is analyzed repeatedly.
All this does however have to be looked at in conjunction with the times and social attitudes of the day. This is the part of history that requires some research to fully understand the significance of the particular event. A big question remains unanswered, why was Kennedy shot ? There are several answers that have been proposed but we may never know the truth behind it. Conspiracy abounds. Same with his brother. Was it retribution ? Maybe. We put men on the moon to what purpose. Mostly because we could and President Kennedy said we would. We had to show the Russians our technical prowess to keep them at bay. That is the short version of it anyway.
When we are young history just doesn't seem relevant. Old stories in a book. Tales old people talk about.
Hindsight is indeed twenty twenty and I sure wish I had paid more attention to the old stories. History told from someone who was there is often different than what we read about. Motivations can be complex and deceiving. Even our own history becomes distorted over our lifetime. Have you ever wondered to yourself,now why did I do that ? The answer is not always pleasant and just might need a bit of editing.
History,we never know the truth of it and the lessons learned from it may or may not be relevant. Something to consider the next time someone asks you why ?