Thank you, Heroes

Sandy is a hero of mine. I have had the privilege to get to know Sandy, as he owns the business property in which I have my studio. Other than a successful businessman, he was an integral part of America's victory in the Pacific theater of World War II. At age 19, he was captain of a B-24 Liberator with a crew of 10 other men (boys) flying 13 hour missions over the Pacific ocean bombing military targets in Japan. I say integral, but he, as well as other WW II vets, would say that all who served were integral to our victory and of course, they would be right. It's hard for us who never served in the military, who sit here in the lap of luxury of our 21st century lifestyles to even fathom the effort and sacrifice men and women have gone through to allow us this privilege. I am so in awe of their efforts, and am so humbled and grateful for their service. It saddens me to realize that within the next 10 to 15 years, the WW II generation of heroes that saved the world from disaster 60 years ago, will be gone. They saved us all from fascism and tyranny. The generation after them fought bravely in Korea and Viet Nam and ultimately defeated communist aggression. Now we bravely face another global enemy, that of radical Islamic terrorism. Each of these generations of soldiers have defined and preserved our freedoms and our culture. What frightens me now is that as our military challenges continue, our will to combat them as a society, has steadily grown weaker. Most of this decline has been a result of the increasing cynicism and subversive nature of the mass media in our culture. All you have to do is watch and compare the military movies made in Hollywood from the 40's to the type of films concerning the military today. The former generation of media producers, both print and film, realized that the preservation of our way of life was worth fighting for. They saw the good in our efforts and did what they could to aid our troops and the morale of the country. Unfortunately, the media of today would just as soon blame the country that gives them the right to dissent, as the aggressors and the tyrants who should be defeated. Our education system teaches a revised anti-American history that paints us as the bullies of the world and the aggressors and oppressors of other cultures. I have no doubt that we would never have been able to win World War II if we had the current media in place 60 years ago. Subversive groups like Amnesty International and the ACLU, as well as outlets like the NY Times, Newsweek, CBS, CNN, and 99% of Hollywood would have done their best to undermine the war effort so as to ensure the success of the enemy. After all according to contemporary liberal thought, "who is to say that the US way of life is any better than Hitler's?" And, "Hirohito and Tojo aren't that bad, lets try to sit down and talk with them." Can you imagine what our current crop of political pundits and columnists would say about some of the stuff that went on in WW II? They would probably implode under the weight of their own self-hatred. I'm encouraged that the men and women in our military today continue to show unbelievable strength and courage fighting an invisible fanatic enemy made up of cowards who hide behind children and who target civilians. These men and women continue to fight not only our enemies abroad but do this in spite of the lack of media support. They know and believe in their mission and realize that in spite of the cynics in the media and even in the democratic party of our own government, the mission is worthy of their sacrifice and will be completed. The sacrifices of guys like Sandy and all the others like him will not be in vain. Good must and will triumph. The best of this country is represented in our military. Thank them, they are all heroes.