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The sweeping narrative is what catches the attention of elementary and secondary school kids. It gives them a framework where they see themselves as both the inheritors of those giants who forged the American nation and as one of those who have the privilege to carry the great narrative forward. Coming of age in the era of the high drama of the Cold War at its zenith made it easy to see where I fit in the great narrative and into the terrible drama of the 20th century. Today very few even know this happened. Ask even a university history grad about Saleno or Ploesti and you will probably get a blank look.