thedrifter
07-31-08, 07:06 AM
Patriotism part of past wars
By Reggie McCann
Guest Columnist
Editor's note: This is the second in a four-part series submitted by a Clinton retiree regarding his views on patriotism.
What is patriotism? To try to explain to you what it means to me, and what it should mean to you, let me take you back to World War II.
To the Battle of Iwo Jima, just one battle out of thousands, but one that you will all remember from your history lessons, or if you were fortunate enough to have a family member who was there tell you about it first-hand.
The battle of Iwo Jima began at 2 a.m. Feb. 19, 1945, when U.S. Navy guns fired the first shots of the battle. At 8:59 a.m, the first Marines landed on the beach.
The battle which followed lasted for only 36 days, but when it ended, more than 4,000 Marines had died. The conflict was brutal, bloody and in a number of cases, up-close and personal with hand-to-hand combat, where terrified men from both sides tried to kill each other or tried to survive.
It should be noted that we lost as many men in that one battle of 36 days as we have lost in five years of the Iraq war.
Strange, isn't it, how one generation was so very proud of the American military, even with those horrific losses, and then now there is this generation, who rightly or wrongly, thinks we shouldn't even be in Iraq?
You're wondering what the press was saying during that battle, right? Were they complaining about not having access to our troops or our commanders?
No, they were actually extolling the valor of our Marines, explaining in words that the families back home listening on their radios could understand..
The media weren't trying to catch a Marine who shot a surrendering Japanese soldier before the Marine's brain could stop his terrified finger from pulling the trigger.
Instead, they were proudly reporting just what a tremendous lift of morale the men fighting got when the American flag was raised on Mount Suribachi. And providing an emotional salute when that terrible, terrible battle had finally ended and after those more than 4,000 dead Marines had been buried in a makeshift cemetery on Iwo Jima.
After white crosses, or Star of David headboards, had been placed on the graves, those Marines who were being pulled out, either to return home or to go to another battle on another island, those who were leaving their buddies behind in one of those graves, had to pass that graveyard. As they did, their eyes fell on a handwritten sign which implored them to go home and tell the American people what had happened on Iwo Jima - what they had seen, what they had done and what had been done to them.
In large letters, the sign simply said, "When you go home, tell them for us ... and say 'For your tomorrows ... we gave our today.'
"Semper fi."
Even in death, the Marines wanted Americans back home to know that what they did, they did for them and for America.
The veterans of the Vietnam War wanted you to know the same thing, but most Americans were too busy hating them to see it.
When those soldiers of past battles died, they died while you sat safely here at home. Or you were in the streets, calling them names, burning an American flag or burning your draft card.
They didn't ask you for one single thing, with the exception of maybe wishing that they had - no, craving - your support. They depended upon you; they counted on you being there for them.
McCann, of Clinton, was a Jackson homicide detective before he retired in 2000.
Ellie
By Reggie McCann
Guest Columnist
Editor's note: This is the second in a four-part series submitted by a Clinton retiree regarding his views on patriotism.
What is patriotism? To try to explain to you what it means to me, and what it should mean to you, let me take you back to World War II.
To the Battle of Iwo Jima, just one battle out of thousands, but one that you will all remember from your history lessons, or if you were fortunate enough to have a family member who was there tell you about it first-hand.
The battle of Iwo Jima began at 2 a.m. Feb. 19, 1945, when U.S. Navy guns fired the first shots of the battle. At 8:59 a.m, the first Marines landed on the beach.
The battle which followed lasted for only 36 days, but when it ended, more than 4,000 Marines had died. The conflict was brutal, bloody and in a number of cases, up-close and personal with hand-to-hand combat, where terrified men from both sides tried to kill each other or tried to survive.
It should be noted that we lost as many men in that one battle of 36 days as we have lost in five years of the Iraq war.
Strange, isn't it, how one generation was so very proud of the American military, even with those horrific losses, and then now there is this generation, who rightly or wrongly, thinks we shouldn't even be in Iraq?
You're wondering what the press was saying during that battle, right? Were they complaining about not having access to our troops or our commanders?
No, they were actually extolling the valor of our Marines, explaining in words that the families back home listening on their radios could understand..
The media weren't trying to catch a Marine who shot a surrendering Japanese soldier before the Marine's brain could stop his terrified finger from pulling the trigger.
Instead, they were proudly reporting just what a tremendous lift of morale the men fighting got when the American flag was raised on Mount Suribachi. And providing an emotional salute when that terrible, terrible battle had finally ended and after those more than 4,000 dead Marines had been buried in a makeshift cemetery on Iwo Jima.
After white crosses, or Star of David headboards, had been placed on the graves, those Marines who were being pulled out, either to return home or to go to another battle on another island, those who were leaving their buddies behind in one of those graves, had to pass that graveyard. As they did, their eyes fell on a handwritten sign which implored them to go home and tell the American people what had happened on Iwo Jima - what they had seen, what they had done and what had been done to them.
In large letters, the sign simply said, "When you go home, tell them for us ... and say 'For your tomorrows ... we gave our today.'
"Semper fi."
Even in death, the Marines wanted Americans back home to know that what they did, they did for them and for America.
The veterans of the Vietnam War wanted you to know the same thing, but most Americans were too busy hating them to see it.
When those soldiers of past battles died, they died while you sat safely here at home. Or you were in the streets, calling them names, burning an American flag or burning your draft card.
They didn't ask you for one single thing, with the exception of maybe wishing that they had - no, craving - your support. They depended upon you; they counted on you being there for them.
McCann, of Clinton, was a Jackson homicide detective before he retired in 2000.
Ellie