Friday, June 2nd, 2023
My Dear America:
I just spent an extended period of time over the Memorial Day Weekend and on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this past week thinking about the Men and Women of our Armed Forces and what they went through with their partners in Britain and France to fight World Wars in order to preserve Freedom and Democracy in our Country and in the World.
Watching Turner Classic Movies (TCM) on Memorial Day Weekend and also FDR on the History Channel beginning Memorial Day Evening and continuing for Two nights after that was an inspiring experience.
TCM presented a weekend packed with mainly War Films like Darby's Rangers starring James Garner, The Naked and the Dead, based on Norman Mailer's First Best Seller starring Aldo Ray, The Dirty Dozen starring Lee Marvin and a host of other well known Actors including Jim Brown, John Cassavettes, Charles Bronson, Donald Sutherland, Telly Savales and even Trini Lopez. Even the Civil War was represented in the War Movie Marathon featuring the actually Highly Decorated World War II Hero, Audie Murphy starring in The Red Badge of Courage.
Courage was certainly on display throughout the Memorial Day Movie Marathon on TCM. Also on display throughout these films was the Brotherhood of Battle in which Men at War protect and defend one another, along with genuinely protecting and defending their countries.
War is Hell for sure and no one in their right mind wants to join their country's army and go to other Countries to kill people for fun. Men were willing to fight for their Country in World War II because they had no other choice. Adolph Hitler was a despicable dictator who had essentially conquered most of Europe and was on the verge of conquering all of Europe and possibly the world with his partners in War in Japan, Italy and Spain.
When America joined with Britain and Russia and the Free French, Hitler's Blitzkrieg (Lightning War) had already conquered most of Europe along with Italy's Mussolini. Britain was being bombed nightly by the Germans and France had already fallen into German hands when The United States was bombed at Pearl Harbor giving America no choice but to take up arms against the Japanese, the Italians and the Germans.
The truth was that many Americans were reluctant to enter into another World War after the devastating results of World War I. The Excellent History Channel Series FDR showed that although Franklin Delano Roosevelt knew that America would probably need to enter the fight against the Nazis at some point much of the country did not want to fight until the disaster at Pearl Harbor gave them no choice but to respond to the monsters that were in the process of taking over the world.
FDR was a very interesting character who was perfectly suited for his time. He and his wife Eleanor, who was another interesting character saw their four sons go off to war in World War II while FDR struggled to figure out how to outwit the Nazis along with his partner in War, England's Winston Churchill. These two Larger Than Life Leaders became close friends and recognized how the deck was stacked against the success of their Countries in World War II. England was on the verge of defeat by the Nazis when FDR rallied the American Troops and came to the rescue of the world.
Roosevelt and Churchill were the kinds of charismatic leaders who were able to inspire their citizens and their troops to fight for Freedom and Democracy in the world. They had their flaws but they also were nearly perfectly positioned leaders for their times and their countries.
Both FDR and Churchill were in the unenviable position of needing to encourage their citizens who had no real interest in entering another world war to follow their leadership into World War II.
What I kept wondering as I watched the Movie Marathon on TCM and FDR on the History Channel was how the men and women who sacrificed their lives and their limbs in World War II would view what is happening in America and in the world today.
What would those truly brave individuals think about people like Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis praising Russian Dictator, Vladimir Putin as he bombs the hell out of the Democratic Country of Ukraine.
What would those brave individuals from yesteryear think about a Republican Party that has lost its mind and its principles and in state after state pushes for Right Wing agendas like taking away the rights of Women, Gays, Blacks and Transgender people and banning books.
Would those brave veterans of World Wars I and II be Okay with rolling back Civil Rights and Voting Rights in America like Right Wing MAGA Republicans are.
I don't think that those brave souls who fought so hard for Freedom and Democracy in their time would be alright with the liars and the Chicken Hawks who want nothing more than the power to tear down Democracy and Freedom in America and turn it into a Dictatorship.
I hope that at some point those decent American People who have been bamboozled by the American Right but still truly believe in Democracy and Freedom wake up to what they have signed onto in 2023.
As the election of 2024 creeps ominously closer it is time for Genuine Patriots , not Chickenshit Patriots to wake up to the treason and racist horrors that await us all if either Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis are elected President in 2024.
It is time to stop bitching about how old Joe Biden is and recognize that despite his age President Biden, after the disaster that was Donald Trump, has managed, with no real help from Republicans, to veer away from the traitorous rhetoric and actions of the Trump Administration and has shown the Citizens of the United States that, like FDR, Winston Churchill and the Veterans of the past, American Presidents can be and mostly are believers in Freedom and Democracy.
It is time to recognize that the American Electorate made a Serious Mistake in electing Donald Trump to the Presidency and it is incredibly important that we never make that same mistake again.
It is time to recognize that people in America have died for the freedoms that we sometimes take for granted and may be on the verge of losing forever.
Wake up to reality, my fellow Americans, before it is too late to save the Freedoms that our Fathers, Grandfathers, Sons and Uncles fought for in our name.
Sincerely Yours
Jerry Gallagher
