Now, as a disclaimer, I'll say that, yes, I know, this is yet another instance of historically incorrect, embellished, Hollywood drama-drenched movies that is more love-triangle than historically correct events. But still... it spurred some thoughts that I wanted to share.
Take a look at some of these pictures of the REAL Pearl Harbor that I found through a Google search. This is not Hollywood, this was reality. This was the all-too-real Sunday morning of December 7, 1941 for Americans on the island of O'ahu, Hawaii.
This was, as President Roosevelt said, "... a date which will live in infamy." The attack not only killed over 2,000 American soldiers of the Navy and Marines, but brought the United States into World War Two which took around 500,000 American lives.
My point? Watching the Hollywood version of Pearl Harbor, embellished and dramatized as it may be, was just one small thing that reminded me of why I am proud to be an American. As I watched the actors run towards the simulation of the exploding battleships during the Japanese attack, no doubt a feat in special effects...the plain, everyday people those actors were, that went to work, portrayed a sailor, packed up and went home... I thought of the REAL sailors. The REAL sailors in 1941 that laid down their lives prematurely in service to their country, and those that continued to fight in their stead to defend the Harbor, and later, the nation in a war.
When I watched the actresses that portrayed nurses in the hospital that just overflowed with charred, bloody, dismembered men (actors... everyday, ordinary people in costume and make up) I thought of the REAL nurses. The REAL women in the 1940s that left the traditional way of life for women of the time to give their service to much needed soldiers, bearing the burden of pain for their nation's safety. And I thought of the REAL men, the REAL sufferers of that attack whose blood and fatal wounds were not make-up artist induced.
And when the man portraying Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto stated after the attack, "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant" I thought, yes, that is exactly what you did. A sleeping giant. One that will fight, when provoked, with every ounce of strength on any battlefield against any group in order to defend the beautiful liberties we enjoy as Americans.
I recalled that the sacrifices that those that have come before me have endured...either in loss, in pain, or in death. I recalled the Americans that never cease to enlist in the military, be it in the 18th century militias of our budding nation, the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, during World War Two, or those who continue to believe in our great nation today, and every war or conflict in between. Selflessness. Bravery. Courage. Determination. Dedication. This is what Americans are made of; it's who we are. It's not belligerence and the desire for confrontation. It's the willingness to defend the people, the land, and the liberties you love. It's having the belief in not only yourself, but the morals and principles that have made you who you are. It all comes back to the idea that our Founder's forged a nation upon, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their Creator certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Do I think too much? Probably. But I know that I am not the only one who becomes entranced when my eye catches an American flag waving in the wind. I know I post a lot of disturbing facts of the increasing abridgements of freedom and just plain bizarre occurrances in our country's government and society today, and it seems that the image of America and it's Founding principles have slipped from view and even from thought. The piece of ground we stand on is more than an environment for our everyday life. The very ideas that GAVE us this place we call home give us every right we take for granted every day. But In God We Trust... and I believe and know the ideas of self-government and freedom and liberty that are America are still alive and well in this country. They were a sleeping giant for a time... but I believe it has been awakened.
"America is great because she is good. If America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.” God Bless America.
No comments:
Post a Comment