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Politics aside, please do not blame the B-2 bomber for the lack of
support for education. Lacking books is not the B2 bomber's fault. It
is also more than politicians cutting out a piece for themselves. It
is a societal issue-society in general has never had the support for
teachers, students and education in general that it has needed.
However, always remember that we are here today and not wearing a Nazi
arm band due to our military and their response to aggressors from
afar.part of that military establishment is the B2 bomber. An
eloquent reminder of this is borne out in the statement by Colin Powell
below.
Helen Sabin (Proud of our military! and thankful they are here-B2
bombers and all) Notice especially that EDUCATORS are not mentioned in
this article! Time is where you should be writing not this list serv!
Tribute to the G.I.
Time Magazine prepared a list of the 10 most influential
people of the century in each field to mark the end of the century. The
10 most influential scientists, politicians, entertainers, sports
figures, musicians, artists, and industrialists. This month they
published the 10 most influential people (overall) of the century. They
named "the American GI" the most influential person of the century. It
is the only one that is not a single individual. General Powell wrote
the introduction to the award.
Subject: G.I.'s
As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I referred to the men and
women of the armed forces as "G.I.s." It got me in trouble with some of
my colleagues at the time. Several
years earlier, the Army had officially excised the term as an
unfavorable characterization derived from the designation "government
issue." Sailors and Marines wanted to be known
as sailors and Marines. Airmen, notwithstanding their origins as a rib
of the Army, wished to be called simply
airmen. Collectively, they were blandly referred to as "service
members." I persisted in using G.I.s and found I was in good company.
Newspapers and television shows used
it all the time. The most famous and successful government education
program was known as the G.I. Bill, and it still uses that title for a
newer generation of veterans. When you added one of the most common
boy's names to it, you got G.I. Joe, and the name of the most popular
boy's toy ever, the G.I. Joe action figure. And let's not forget G.I.
Jane. G.I. is a World War II term that two generations
later continues to conjure up the warmest and proudest memories of a
noble war that pitted pure good against pure evil and good triumphed.
The victors in that war were the American G.I.s, the Willies and Joes,
the farmer from Iowa and the steelworker from Pittsburgh who stepped off
a landing craft into the hell of Omaha Beach. The G.I. was the
wisecracking kid Marine from Brooklyn who clawed his way up
a deadly hill on a Pacific Island. He was a black fighter pilot
escorting white bomber pilots over Italy and Germany, proving that skin
color had nothing to do with skill or
courage. He was a native Japanese-American infantryman released from
his own country's concentration camp to join the fight. She was a nurse
relieving the agony of a dying
teenager. He was a petty officer standing on the edge of a heaving
aircraft carrier with two signal paddles in his hands, helping guide a
dive-bomber pilot back onto the deck. They were America. They reflected
our diverse origins. They were the embodiment of the American spirit of
courage and dedication. They were truly a "people's army," going forth
on a crusade to save democracy and freedom, to defeat tyrants, to save
oppressed peoples and to make their
families proud of > them. They were the Private Ryans, and they stood
firm in the thin red line. For most of those G.I.s, World War II was
the adventure of their lifetime.
Nothing they would ever do in the future would match their experiences
as the warriors of democracy, saving the world from its own insanity.
You can still see them in every
Fourth of July color guard, their gait faltering but ever proud. Their
forebears went by other names: doughboys,Yanks, buffalo soldiers, Johnny
Reb, Rough Riders. But
"G.I." will be forever lodged in the consciousness of our nation to
apply to them all. The G.I. carried the value system of the American
people. The G.I.s were the surest
guarantee of America's commitment. For more than 200 years, they
answered the call to fight the nation's battles. They never went forth
as mercenaries on the road to conquest.
They went forth as reluctant warriors, as citizen soldiers. They were
as gentle in victory as they were vicious in battle. I've had survivors
of Nazi concentration camps tell me of the joy they experienced as the
G.I.s
liberated them: America had arrived! I've had a wealthy Japanese
businessman come into my office and tell me what it was like for him as
a child in 1945 to await the arrival of
the dreaded American beasts, and instead meet a smiling G.I. who gave
him a Hershey bar. In thanks, the businessman was donating a large sum
of money to the USO.
After thanking him, I gave him as a souvenir a Hershey bar I had
autographed. He took it and began to cry. The 20th century can be
called many things, but it was most certainly
a century of war. The American G.I.s helped defeat fascism and
communism. They came home in triumph from the ferocious battlefields of
World Wars I and II. In Korea and Vietnam they fought just as bravely as
any of their predecessors, but no triumphant receptions awaited them at
home. They soldiered on through the twilight struggles of the cold war
and showed what they were capable of in Desert Storm. The American
people took them into their
hearts again. In this century hundreds of thousands of G.I.s died to
bring to the beginning of the 21st century the victory of democracy as
the ascendant political system
on the face of the earth. The G.I.s were willing to travel far away and
give their lives, if necessary, to secure the
rights and freedoms of others. Only a nation such as ours, based on a
firm moral foundation, could make such a request of its citizens. And
the G.I.s wanted nothing more than to get the job done and then return
home safely. All they
asked for in repayment from those they freed was the opportunity to help
them become part of the world of democracy-and just enough land to bury
their fallen comrades, beneath simple white crosses and Stars of David.
The volunteer G.I.s of today stand watch in Korea, the Persian Gulf,
Europe and the dangerous
terrain of the Balkans. We must never see them as mere hirelings, off in
a corner of our society. They are our best, and we owe them our full
support and our sincerest thanks.
As this century closes, we look back to identify the great leaders and
personalities of the past 100 years. We do so in a world still troubled,
but full of promise. That
promise was gained by the young men and women of America who fought and
died for freedom. Near the top of any listing of the most important
people of the 20th century must
stand, in singular honor, the American G.I.
General Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, now chairman
of America's Promise.
James C Valkenburg wrote:
>
> On Thu, 21 Oct 1999, beth kupper-herr wrote:
>
> > ...anyone remember the "peace dividend" we were supposed to have when the
> > Cold War ended?
>
> > Steve Runge wrote:
> >
> > ...I prefer to speak in the unit of B2's: an ironically apt name for a war
> > machine that costs roughly 2Billion, and a unit that is useful for pointing
> > out national budgetary discrepancies and priorities.)"
>
> "Peace dividend" indeed. With a government bought and sold on the market
> place, the only piece dividend in mind is how big a piece of the pie each
> of our "representitives" can slice for themselves. Makes one wonder which
> "evil empire" won that cold war.
>
> Jim
>
> //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
> Jim Valkenburg [log in to unmask]
> Delta College
> University Center, MI 48710-0002
> (517) 686-9034 FAX (517) 686-8736
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