“Freedom makes a huge requirement of every human being. With freedom comes responsibility. For the person who is unwilling to grow up, the person who does not want to carry his own weight, this is a frightening prospect.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

It is frustrating to log on to the internet every day and find the concepts of “patriotism” and “liberty” being so perverted. “Freedom,” or the children’s book version, is used as a cudgel by the selfish and self-righteous, and insecurity and division are sewn by unscrupulous politicians, who wave “America” like a red cape in a bull ring.

So many have sacrificed so much for this country and the living dream of how great America can be. Now, it seems, we can’t even manage to be decent, compassionate, and respectful of our neighbors. Clearly, the important lessons need to be re-learned. The question is, why have they not been handed down?

The bravery and sacrifice of the soldier at war is unfathomable. I think especially of those souls who were called up in the days of the draft, or who volunteered. What horrors were thrust upon them, and how well they acquitted themselves. I am thankful to those, like my grandfather, who did the heavy lifting, so that the rest of us wouldn’t have to.

The least we can do now is assume responsibility as a nation, pull ourselves together, and ensure that their sacrifices continue to resonate.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

“In Flanders Fields” remembered:
http://www.greatwar.co.uk/poems/john-mccrae-in-flanders-fields.htm?fbclid=IwAR2R5bVThWh1_p1CADTCNnzZ5RDSXiWGKbqxlnuDiPtMq0rIwtk9V74nT9o

Charles Ives’ setting:

Ives’ “Tom Sails Away”

Ives’ “He Is There!”

Germany’s perception of the American soldier in World War I:
https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/57121/42-quotes-germans-about-american-troops-after-world-war-i?fbclid=IwAR0enSmw2rP_N6QaFNn5vqK-cHTMd_hgURbzcPPaG9mQq-0Vk4a5yZBKlu8