[June 15, 2024] I’ve often been asked, “Why are you building this World War II memorial?” “Why are you going to all that trouble and spending all that money?” Or some similar questions. I answered that this is how we honor those 16 million who served during WWII and show our respect. The more I’ve thought about it, I think that answer is incomplete.
I started thinking I was overlooking a better way to answer the question. We have to begin by acknowledging that WWII was the most destructive war in human history, and it was against two very dark evils, Nazism and Imperialism, most closely associated with the countries of Germany and Japan.
And those American and Allied troops were fighting for their lives and literally for a free world. They were closely tied to that dark evil, meaning their fight was eye to eye, gun to gun, and in the trenches, whether on land, sea, or in the air. And their words telling the story of their fight against those malevolent beliefs helped shine a light on the darkness of that evil.
By shining that light and being vigilant against evil, we can rise above it to be a better and more moral society. The dark evils of that war tightly link us today to our cultural ways. The success of that existential fight has been incorporated into our very being. I believe that is part of what we call American Exceptionalism, our beliefs and values, historical progress, and the development of our most trusted institutions, making us unique among nations.
This idea that we are linked to a dark past through the millions who successfully fought in that war for a free world means we can create a better future in America. Yes, we can make the future better for those who come after us.
This is why we built this war memorial and why we love them so much.
—————
Please read my books:
Watching the d day celebration of tv seeing the wwii brave men in the late 90 to 100 plus years standing up receiving honors. I was so excited and honored 🎖 . I had a close friend of mine who was in Normandy Beach seeing the bloody waters and dead bodies didn’t talk about it when he returned home. He opened up to his daughter days before he died to talk about it
=== and we do love our war memorials. ❤ And those who it represents. 👍
You become better if you have the courage to stand up to evil and fight it. That is also why Gen. Satterfield says that we must study and better understand evil, so we can first recognize it before we can fight it.
“Our Obligation to Study Evil”
https://www.theleadermaker.com/our-obligation-to-study-evil/
This is an important part of Gen. Satterfield’s idea that we don’t understand the true nature of EVIL. “The foremost challenge to figuring out evil is that we are given a false view, making it challenging to recognize and overcome. For example, Hollywood gives us Dr. Hannibal Lecter and the screaming of Adolf Hitler, two icons that distort how evil operates. These caricatures exude evil, but the insidiousness of evil is that it misleads good people because of the wrong idea of evil.” – Gen. Doug Satterfield
Great comments Good Dog
Powerful …
“By shining that light and being vigilant against evil, we can rise above it to be a better and more moral society. The dark evils of that war tightly link us today to our cultural ways. The success of that existential fight has been incorporated into our very being. I believe that is part of what we call American Exceptionalism, our beliefs and values, historical progress, and the development of our most trusted institutions, making us unique among nations.” – Gen. Doug Satterfield helps us understand why WWII is more important than we may have originally thought.
Melissa, you sure did quote the best and key part of the article, and yes it is important for us to better understand HOW that fight of WW2 helped develop the American Exceptionalism that Gen. S. writes about.
Excellent thinking.
Hey, tomorrow is FATHER’S DAY, and so all the good fathers out there, you have my respect and admiration. Thank you all and enjoy your one day a year …. he he he . Seriously, happy father’s day in advance. 😁😁😁😁😁😁
Yesssssssssss …………. 🎉📅❤️👨
Won’t miss it for anything. I actually get to watch any tv show I want.
Well said, Gen. Satterfield. I’d like to see you develop this idea further. For example, you could be more specific about the values of the military during WWII (like being brutally honest) and how that improves and maintains good governance and our relationship with various organizations, private and public. Just a thought about how you could tackle the issue that “links” WWII to today and the future.b
Good point, Bernie. I also agree that the ideas here are both something I’ve never seen or heard of before and would like to see it developed moreso, such that the links are obvious to the average person. Great article, Gen. Satterfield.
Bernie, yes, I agree with you that the idea of a “link” between our WWII vets and their stories and experiences to us today and to the future can be developed better and I do plan to do that in the future. Thanks for the note.
Sir, thank you. I can put some thoughts about it for you after I give it more thought. Overall, great job and keep this topic hot.
Bernie, I can help too. 👍
This idea that we are linked to a dark past through the millions who successfully fought in that war for a free world means we can create a better future in America. Yes, we can make the future better for those who come after us.
This is why we built this war memorial and why we love them so much.