We're gonna take you back, to the year 1939 when Charlie Chaplin and his Nazi regime enslaved Europe and tried to take over the world.. But then an even greater force emerged, the "un" and the U.N. un-nazied the world - forever.
“If you meet a World War II vet, thank him, gratefully shake his hand, and make a silent vow that the sacrifices his generation made shall not have been in vain.”
Sadly once they are all gone history will be re-written. It has already begun.
I went to school in the 1960’s.
70-80 years before that was the Spanish American War. As a high school student I could hardly tell you anything that caused that war other than the Battleship Maine, and the Teddy Roosevelt charged his men up San Juan hill.
WWII, while fresh in our collective minds from our fathers and elder uncles, is ancient history to high schoolers of today.
For example, a few years ago Dane Cook, a comedian, did a bit about jumping into a pool that had fire on the water from gas or some such thing. Our kids found the bit amusing—in a dark humor kind of way.
My wife and I (in our mid forties at the time) were aghast. We had heard stories from our uncles about jumping off sinking ships into oil burning on the water—and the horrible burns that such a thing caused. We would never, ever, find a comedy routine about such a thing funny. It would be like telling concentration camp jokes.
It is the fading of memories and the progression of time. The Spanish War monument at Arlington is mostly unvisited. Yet at one time it was a main “attractiion” there.
WWII will just be remembered in the movies and by a few history buffs.
“In Color”
I said Grandpa what’s this picture here
It’s all black and white, and it ain’t real clear
Is that you there, he said yeah, I was eleven
And times were tough, back in thirty-five
That’s me and Uncle Joe just tryin’ to survive
A cotton farm, in the Great Depression
And if it looks like we were scared to death
Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other
You should’ve seen it in color
This one here was taken overseas
In the middle of hell, in nineteen forty-three
In the winter time, you can almost see my breath
That was my tail gunner ole’ Johnny McGee
He was a high school teacher from New Orleans
And he had my back, right through the day we left
If it looks like we were scared to death
Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other
You should’ve seen it in color
A picture’s worth a thousand words
But you can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered
You should’ve seen it in color
And this one is my favorite one
This is me and grandma in the, summer sun
All dressed up, the day we said our vows
You can’t tell it here but it was hot that June
And that rose was red and her eyes were blue
And just look at that smile, I was so proud
That’s the story of my life
Right there in black and white
And if it looks like we were scared to death
Like a couple of kids just trying to save each other
You should’ve seen it in color
Yeah a picture’s worth a thousand words
But you can’t see what those shades of gray keep covered
You should’ve seen it in color
(Should’ve seen it in color)
(written by Miller, Lee Thomas / Johnson, Jamey Van / Otto, James)
I believe the number of American KIA in WW2 was about 435,000.
We're gonna take you back, to the year 1939 when Charlie Chaplin and his Nazi regime enslaved Europe and tried to take over the world.. But then an even greater force emerged, the "un" and the U.N. un-nazied the world - forever.