Could We Do It Again? | Eastern North Carolina Now

Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the LifeZette. The author of this post is David Kamioner.

    You may be reading this on June 5th or June 6th of 2021. It may be a normal weekend for you. Work or play may predominate. For many men during the wee hours of June 6th 77 years ago, and in preparation on June 5th of 1944, the emphasis was definitely on work. These were the men of the Allied Airborne Army. The Americans were the 82nd Airborne and the 101st Airborne. It was D-Day, the invasion to liberate Europe from Nazi tyranny.

    I grew up at Fort Bragg, home of the 82nd. My parents worked for the Army. My earliest memories are of the post and the paratroopers stationed there. Many of them were on their way to Vietnam. My mom and dad knew several who never returned home. They mourned them and I tried my best to understand, I was around six, why these men who had been our friends were not coming back. Over a decade later, when I was in Army uniform, I understood better.

    Now, as a veteran who served several decades ago, I ask myself: Could we do it again? Do we have the national resolve to pull off a D-Day or sustain the rigors of combat in another Vietnam? And to tell you the truth, I don't know.

    It's not our fighting forces. They are good. America's best have always answered the call. The guys I knew in the 82nd were just as tough as the boys who landed in Normandy. The guys I knew with screaming eagles on their shoulders were worthy descendants of Dick Winters and Easy Company. The question is our national will.

    Are we still the nation that could unite to defeat fascism when fascists like Antifa and Black Lives Matter roam our streets unmolested and are lauded by the culture and the political power of the party that controls the White House and Congress? Would we still defend an ally against communism when Marxists infest our schools, control the two above-mentioned groups, and hold positions of power in our national government? Do we still have the will to defend ourselves, our nation, the West? I just don't know. In historical terms, 77 years is a short time. But it can change a nation forever.

    Where are the Churchills and the Harry Trumans? We look left and right, here and there, and we mostly see demagogues, charlatans, and riff raff. There are exceptions. They are generally on the Right. But they would face an avalanche of opposition if they ever showed the courage to defend the West as Churchill or Truman did. They would be pilloried for defending capitalism, democracy, and free speech. All outdated ideas promulgated by dead white men, or so they would hear. Could they, could we, do it again and stand up for the dream of Magna Carta and Constitution? Do we still have it in us? Let us hope that because of the weakness of present leaders, we don't have to find out anytime soon.