EN Submarine Qualified Loc: Wisconsin East coast

Jean
'I talked to a man today'


''I talked with a man today, an 80+ year old man. I asked him if there was anything I can get him while this Coronavirus scare was gripping America.

He simply smiled, looked away and said: "Let me tell you what I need!
I need to believe, at some point, this country my generation fought for... I need to believe this nation we handed safely to our children and their children...

I need to know this generation will quit being a bunch of sissies...they respect what they've been given...they've earned what others sacrificed for.

"I wasn't sure where the conversation was going or if it was going anywhere at all. So, I sat there, quietly observing.

"You know, I was a little boy during WWII. Those were scary days. We didn't know if we were going to be speaking English, German or Japanese at the end of the war. There was no certainty, no guarantees like Americans enjoy today.
And no home went without sacrifice or loss. Every house, up and down every street, had someone in harm's way.
Maybe their Daddy was a soldier, maybe their son was a sailor, maybe it was an uncle.
Sometimes it was the whole damn family...fathers, sons, uncles...

Having someone, you love, sent off to war...it wasn't less frightening than it is today. It was scary as Hell. If anything, it was more frightening. We didn't have battle front news. We didn't have email or cell phones. You sent them away and you hoped...you prayed. You may not hear from them for months, if ever. Sometimes a mother was getting her son's letters the same day Dad was comforting her over their child's death.

And we sacrificed. You couldn't buy things. Everything was rationed. You were only allowed so much milk per month, only so much bread, toilet paper. EVERYTHING was restricted for the war effort. And what you weren't using, what you didn't need, things you threw away, they were saved and sorted for the war effort.
My generation was the original recycling movement in America.

And we had viruses?????? back then...serious viruses. Things like polio, measles, and such. It was nothing to walk to school and pass a house or two that was quarantined. We didn't shut down our schools. We didn't shut down our cities. We carried on, without masks, without hand sanitizer.
And do you know what? We persevered. We overcame. We didn't attack our President, we came together.
We rallied around the flag for the war. Thick or thin, we were in it to win.
And we would lose more boys in an hour of combat than we lose in entire wars today."

He slowly looked away again. Maybe I saw a small tear in the corner of his eye.
Then he continued: "Today's kids don't know sacrifice. They think a sacrifice is not having coverage on their phone while they freely drive across the country. Today's kids are selfish and spoiled.
In my generation, we looked out for our elders. We helped out with single moms who's husbands were either at war or dead from war.
Today's kids rush the store, buying everything they can...no concern for anyone but themselves.
It's shameful the way Americans behave these days. None of them deserve the sacrifices their granddads made.

So, no I don't need anything. I appreciate your offer but, I know I've been through worse things than this virus.
But maybe I should be asking you, what can I do to help you?
Do you have enough pop to get through this, enough steak? Will you be able to survive with 113 channels on your TV?"

I smiled, fighting back my emotions....now humbled by a man in his 80's.
All I could do was thank him for the history lesson, leave my number for emergency and leave with my ego firmly tucked in my rear.

I talked to a man today. A real man.
An American man from an era long gone and forgotten.
We will never understand the sacrifices.
We will never fully earn their sacrifices.
But we should work harder to learn about them..learn from them...to respect them.''

Hug

Good Post.

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

Go watch some documentary films of WWII that are colorized. Look at how young the 18-year-olds were then. Then, look at the College kids today. Good thing we aren't fighting the Nazis and Japanese today. Although there are still some real warriors and masculine men out there, most of them have probably joined the military. And all of society sacrificed for the war effort. Today, the college kids found it more important to go to the beaches in Florida for spring break. Youth is wasted on the young. As a country, we have been through much, much worse!

This too shall pass.

jeff smith

thank you for this post . rather very moving and very true .

DM

EN Submarine qualified: Fantastic post. And, isn't it the truth? Yes, poor over- privileged kids of today
with so little respect for adults. Schools have to have teachers know how to settle fist fights that kids
cause in schools. No respect for adults, or "my parents will sue you!" Their houses are full of things that
nobody uses...every child has a car and if they don't they think they are abused. Yes, we haven't made
America so great as it once was with the respect and thoughtfulness that parents used to teach....
great post...

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Pointed history obviously from the man who lived it. We could never learn more than we do from our elders and should always respect them and definitely listen to what they have to say.

Moments of tears filled my eyes just thinking about what he lived and how he viewed it now that he is 80 years old full of the wisdom he shared.

He is absolutely right The generation of today has no respect, has not been in a position to have to suffer and forgo the daily comforts of life. I doubt many even have a true installment of patriotism within their thought process or that they know what a true patriot even is. Such a shame to realize this generation Is a generation of me rather than we..

LogicallyRight Loc: Chicago

I'm just a young 79 so that man has a little on me. But I think I have a lot on the youth of today.

I do remember a few things from the war. The victory gardens. Many people had a small patch of earth roped off in nearby fields, or vacant lots in south Chicago. I remember as a 4 or 5 year old, going over there and occasionally stealing a carrot and eating it right out of the ground. Yeah, stealing was bad, but I was four or five and I ate the whole carrot. Maybe I was just so damn hungry. Back then my mother often was lucky to have a potato to make potato soup for five to share.

I also remember my dad reading a story about how 100 bombers were going to fly over Chicago at Noon, heading east and on to Europe. Like I said, 4 or 5. About 1944-5. Suddenly around noon I heard this loud rumbling in the sky. I ran inside and sure enough it was Noon. I ran back out and counted all the way to 100 planes as they flew by in formation.

Watching old black and white war movies, VHS, I sometimes remember that moment. How many men died, crashed in those planes, or were shot down, fighting for our freedom. And then you look around at a lot of our youth and see so many pussies, snowflakes, and those that would give away that very freedom those men died for, as long as Uncle Sugar gives then some freebie that it stole from someone who earned it.

We'll survive this latest bull shit or real crisis. But will our country survive as a real free country or one controlled by pieces of crap politicians slowly shoveling dirt on the grave of the greatest Republic ever created. .

Logically Right

dtucker300 Loc: Vista, CA

It's up to us to teach the next generation because the schools haven't done too well. WE need to teach about the evils of communism that we grew up with and they haven't.

I find it interesting that this whole crisis with COVID-19 has made a lot of people realize what is important. The people working the grocery stores, the shippers, truckers, electricians, plumbers, mechanics, farmers, etc. The health care workers, janitors, the salt of the earth. We don't need the college teachers and the politicians as much as they would like us to believe we need them. The movie stars and the Hollywood glitterati. The elitists.

Tug484

lindajoy Loc: right here with you....

Another share of lived history and its impact on your life and in your heart. Thank You!!!

Our Country will survive!! The foundation that holds her, saves her~~ Freedom is not negotiable..

Wonttakeitanymore

Thank you for the reminder how well we have it! Hopefully everyone is enjoying some close family time! My son, my only child is living across the country and it feels bad not to b with him in this crazy time! But I know it’s only for a season and Gods got this!

TrueAmerican

Thank you so much for your post, it made my day again thank you and God bless you !!!!!!

DM

ALL OF YOU: GREAT GREAT INSIGHTS ON THIS WEBSITE...A FEW LONG LIVERS AND SOME WHO BETTER
SHAPE UP AND SEE WHAT KIND OF HATE IS TRYING TO TAKE OVER OUR NATION. THE HATERS ARE
THE LOUDEST...RACHEL "MAD COW" STATING THAT NO MERCY SHIPS WILL COME AS THEY ARE
ALREADY THERE AS SHE SPEAKS HER LIES AND HATE. THEY HAVE 12 DIFFERENT SURGICAL ROOMS ON THEM. GET THOSE REAL A..H....'S! OFF THE MEDIA. SOMEONE WAKE UP! GET SOME DECENT AND HONEST PEOPLE TO LET PEOPLE SEE HONESTY AND DECENCY. NOT GOING TO FIND IT ON ANY CNN, MSNBC AND MANY OTHERS...ANY OF THE HATEFUL PEOPLE THAT SEEK TO DESTROY A NATION WITH THEIR LIES...FIND GEORGE SOROS AND PUT HIM IN A PRISON AND THROW AWAY THE KEY WITH HIS HATE AND DECEIT THAT HAS TRIED TO DESTORY OUR NATION WITH HIS ENDLESS SUPPLY OF MONEY. HATE HAS NO ENDING....BLESS THE DECENT COMMENTS
AND KEEP ON BUILDING US UP AS A NATION...WE ARE A GREAT NATION AND TRUMP WILL KEEP IT
THAT WAY....PASS IT ON...

bahmer

Amen and Amen

TexaCan Loc: Homeward Bound!

[quote=EN Submarine Qualified]Jean
'I talked to a man today'


''I talked with a man today, an 80+ year old man. I asked him if there was anything I can get him while this Coronavirus scare was gripping America.

He simply smiled, looked away and said: "Let me tell you what I need!
I need to believe, at some point, this country my generation fought for... I need to believe this nation we handed safely to our children and their children...

I need to know this generation will quit being a bunch of sissies...they respect what they've been given...they've earned what others sacrificed for.

"I wasn't sure where the conversation was going or if it was going anywhere at all. So, I sat there, quietly observing.

"You know, I was a little boy during WWII. Those were scary days. We didn't know if we were going to be speaking English, German or Japanese at the end of the war. There was no certainty, no guarantees like Americans enjoy today.
And no home went without sacrifice or loss. Every house, up and down every street, had someone in harm's way.
Maybe their Daddy was a soldier, maybe their son was a sailor, maybe it was an uncle.
Sometimes it was the whole damn family...fathers, sons, uncles...

Having someone, you love, sent off to war...it wasn't less frightening than it is today. It was scary as Hell. If anything, it was more frightening. We didn't have battle front news. We didn't have email or cell phones. You sent them away and you hoped...you prayed. You may not hear from them for months, if ever. Sometimes a mother was getting her son's letters the same day Dad was comforting her over their child's death.

And we sacrificed. You couldn't buy things. Everything was rationed. You were only allowed so much milk per month, only so much bread, toilet paper. EVERYTHING was restricted for the war effort. And what you weren't using, what you didn't need, things you threw away, they were saved and sorted for the war effort.
My generation was the original recycling movement in America.

And we had viruses?????? back then...serious viruses. Things like polio, measles, and such. It was nothing to walk to school and pass a house or two that was quarantined. We didn't shut down our schools. We didn't shut down our cities. We carried on, without masks, without hand sanitizer.
And do you know what? We persevered. We overcame. We didn't attack our President, we came together.
We rallied around the flag for the war. Thick or thin, we were in it to win.
And we would lose more boys in an hour of combat than we lose in entire wars today."

He slowly looked away again. Maybe I saw a small tear in the corner of his eye.
Then he continued: "Today's kids don't know sacrifice. They think a sacrifice is not having coverage on their phone while they freely drive across the country. Today's kids are selfish and spoiled.
In my generation, we looked out for our elders. We helped out with single moms who's husbands were either at war or dead from war.
Today's kids rush the store, buying everything they can...no concern for anyone but themselves.
It's shameful the way Americans behave these days. None of them deserve the sacrifices their granddads made.

So, no I don't need anything. I appreciate your offer but, I know I've been through worse things than this virus.
But maybe I should be asking you, what can I do to help you?
Do you have enough pop to get through this, enough steak? Will you be able to survive with 113 channels on your TV?"

I smiled, fighting back my emotions....now humbled by a man in his 80's.
All I could do was thank him for the history lesson, leave my number for emergency and leave with my ego firmly tucked in my rear.

I talked to a man today. A real man.
An American man from an era long gone and forgotten.
We will never understand the sacrifices.
We will never fully earn their sacrifices.
But we should work harder to learn about them..learn from them...to respect them.''[/quote

That is a wonderful story of a whole generation of men and women who stepped up and did what was necessary here at home in order for our men and women to accomplish the job of winning the war! I was always amazed at the stories of the women who went from being wives and Mothers to the head of the household! Who carried on farming and ranching, running the business and working in the factories, while continuing to raise the children on their own! My Mother was one of those! Heroes one and all! May we never forget any of them and all they sacrificed! Thank you for reminding us! It made my eyes rain!

God Bless America and for all those who gave ALL! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻