Comments on: A WORD ABOUT COURAGE

By: still liberal

still liberal — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:42:35 +0000

Nanci Oteri noted a cousin who died in Europe. On checking, it was good to see that 2nd Lt. Victor P. Mangano of Cambridge, Mass. is listed in the records of the World War II Memorial. And thanks to all of his family for his selfless service.

Everyone who has a relative who served in WWII should be sure that relative is honored by placing their name in the Memorial database. The web site is http://www.wwiimemorial.com.

It brought a sense of pride and gratitude when I visited the WWII Memorial on the Washington Mall and my father’s service was noted for all to see. Thanks, Dad.

By: Michael D'Agnillo

Michael D'Agnillo — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 20:21:31 +0000

Thanks for narrowing the definition of this word and setting it high on those cliffs at Normandy Rick. It belongs there with the spirits of the
soldiers who showed the world what COURAGE is.

By: Surabaya Stew

Surabaya Stew — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 07:11:23 +0000

Nicely said Rick, thank you!

By: michael reynolds

michael reynolds — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:58:26 +0000

Anon:

What a load. No one is teaching history where Nazis are victims. They may be teaching it with a perspective that includes the GErman point of view. Not synonymous.

As for summoning courage, what are the soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors in Afghanistan and Iraq? Cowards?

Typical self-pitying right-wing fantasy.

By: Nancy Oteri

Nancy Oteri — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:33:10 +0000

I want to honor here a cousin who died in Europe as a CeeBee after having survived the war in the South Pacific:
Victor Mangano. May God rest his soul!

By: Anon

Anon — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 21:14:51 +0000

A powerful remembrance. Such courage, indeed. It makes one feel quite small and weak to imagine what these men did in our name. As to your final question — “Can we still summon forth the will to perform great deeds in a cause that reaches far beyond our narrow little corner of planet earth in which we live and love and die?” — I’ve thought for a while now that the answer to such a question is…no. We are a house divided, and our children learn nothing of liberty in their public schools. Few could even tell you what D-Day is, and they’ve been taught to believe that it’s entirely reasonable for some to question whether the Holocaust ever even occurred. The newest rage in social studies education (my own daughter went through it this year) is to study WWII from the Nazis’ perspective, because they were victims, too, you know. No oppressors; just victims all around. Whatever shared values we once had as a nation have been replaced by the twin ideologies of multiculturalism and cultural relativism. There is no more “evil” in the world, just “another way.” Our children have been taught good and well that the promotion of democracy or liberty or freedom or whatever you want to call it is simple, petty imperialism, and that people living under tyrants prefer that to any interference by Western principles. This country can’t come together and even identify a common enemy let alone fight one. We aren’t victims of hubris, as you say, but rather ignorance. So, no, we will not rise up again to confront tyranny. We’ll embrace the tyranny, think it was our own great idea, applaud its commitment to “the people,” and then stand around naked, shivering, and impotent as it drives us into the ground, wondering how in the hell it all came to this and thanking God our grandfathers aren’t around to see it.

By: Gaia's Child

Gaia's Child — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 18:36:04 +0000

Thank you, Rick.

By: michael reynolds

michael reynolds — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:10:19 +0000

I visited Normandy last year. The steepness of the climb from the beach is surprising. It’s a nice beach, no real sign down there on the sand of what happened. And even if you know what happened there it’s hard to see it. It’s the graveyard at the top of the bluff that brings it home.

My kids wanted to play in the sand and surf and my first instinct was that it would be almost sacrilegious. But then it occurred to me that the little part-Jewish American boy and the Chinese-American girl playing on the beach was a pretty good symbol of what those great men had died to preserve.

By: Courage « ricketyclick

Courage « ricketyclick — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 15:38:25 +0000

[...] Rick Moran: Too often, we use that word ["courage"] in a base and cavalier way. A Hollywood movie star has “courage” because she revealed to the world that she’s a drug addict. A comic has “courage” because he made fun of the President of the United States to his face. A filmaker has “courage” because he made millions of dollars shooting a “documentary” which shows the US government complicit in the mass murder on 9/11. [...]

By: jambrowski

jambrowski — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 12:56:55 +0000

thanks… still relevant