defending the republic

  Fifteen years before my birth the United States was attacked. It was December the 7th, 1941, a date that will live in infamy. Seventy nine years ago and few remain that witnessed that attack. I grew up knowing about that attack, hearing an occasional story, watching the movies about it on television. I've known men that harbored a deep hatred for the Japanese, others that accepted them as their enemies, and some that had forgiven them, realizing they too were just soldiers and sailors following orders. And today I have no particular feelings toward the Japanese people. I can't say I've ever actually known a Japanese person on a personal level. I can only speculate about their feelings. I would expect it is whatever they were taught as children. Surely the story is different from their perspective. But in all of that we must never forget. We must never forget the response to that unwarranted attack upon our nation. The greatest generation of Americans to ever grace our land responded. They rose up in their righteous indignation and defeated the enemy. In doing so the world was forever changed with the device that ended that war, what was then called the Atomic bomb. A bomb so destructive mankind has attempted to ban it forever and indeed has limited its' production and development. Still there are those that would posses that weapon and use it to further their own agenda. 

 I grew up knowing my father, his friends, and countless others that had defended America against a foreign nation intent on our destruction. Although they managed to pull off a sneak attack, on a Sunday morning, destroying many ships and airplanes, killing Americans, that didn't go unanswered. We fought those Japanese, island to island until they were destroyed, forced to surrender, forced to accept the ultimate humiliation. I grew up believing they deserved every bit of what they got! I believe that to this day. I walked among those men, most of them humble men that rarely spoke of the war or the horrors associated with that. It was only on holidays when I would see them in their uniforms, marching down Main Street, heads up, shoulders back, marching in step as the Sargent called cadence. And that was the image of an American soldier and sailor that I saw, that I admired, and that one day I would emulate. As a kid watching them, they were old guys, most of them in their forties! What I learned later on, after I had been in the service for a few years, was when they went to war, they were just young guys, like me, not a boy, but not quite yet a man. But they sure did a man sized job! They became men among men and whatever accomplishments I may have had during my twenty year naval career, pales in comparison. I had it easy, very easy. 

 World War two was the last great conflict on a global scale. That in itself can't be a bad thing. Sure Korea, Vietnam, and other police actions, conflicts, and wars have followed and our men and women have answered the call to duty. You could argue that the motivation wasn't the same in any of those wars. We hadn't been attacked but were responding to the promises made by politicians. The narrative has always been, defending freedom around the world. That is what our troops are doing scattered around the world, involved in all these disputes. All those that have served since World War Two have gone, fought, died, sacrificed and suffered for an ideology. What is that ideology? The idea that all men are created equal, that the creator has endowed us all with certain unalienable rights, among them, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. That is what those that have served are defending these days. A noble cause, a cause of honor. 

 In World War Two victory was clear, an undeniable fact. It came to an end. There has been no clear victories since, no parades to celebrate those victories. Those soldiers and sailors I watched on parade as a child had their moment in the spotlight. Whether they were just relieved that they had survived and reveled in their victory, they were recognized as true Americans. It really wasn't so important, being a hero. Those men and women went to war seventy nine years ago today with a purpose, a clear cut goal and they accomplished that mission; empathically! We must never allow any of that to be forgotten, to be rewritten by time. It is a date that will in infamy as long as I'm around to speak of it. We must defend the Republic we are all blessed to live in, we must defend our ideology to the last man. We must remember that we are righteous in our motivation. We must remember we are one nation under God, Indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. We must remember the "all" are Americans. All are welcome to become Americans. To be an American you must first embrace that ideology that is America! A nation that fought for its' independence, fought to keep it, and has sent its' soldiers around the world to defend that ideology! Never forget. Ben Franklin, when asked what sort of government have you given us Dr. Franklin, responded, A Republic, if you can keep it. That is the ideology of America, a republican form of government. A government of the people, by the people, for the people. To be a Republican doesn't mean you belong to a certain political party, it means you embrace the precepts of a Republic.