Thursday, January 19, 2012

Of Great Magnitude





Questions propel

Often in abstract form
From child hood on and on, endless

Wonder is what I do almost every day.
Wonder in every way

“A remarkable person exists as a wonder to those he or she may perceive with great wonderment.”
Hk

One day not too long ago, in another century, I found myself atop a hill in a far away land for then, but not for now; across a massive expanse of water, requiring most to cross by boat. Because of things yet to be discovered, my communication with those covered by the word "love" was accomplished through the mail. While I had yet to feel any real sense of mortality, those at home wondered about my safety. I had not yet discovered boredom, neither as a device stimulating anguish, nor as an excuse for taking chances with my own life. Of course everything relevant at age nineteen, most of what I was up to wasn’t part of what I considered to be overly dangerous. The accompanying photo is that of a very young da harv, sitting on top of a box containing a variety of explosives to be used for clearing the very same hill he’s sitting on. Our location is thirty-five miles north of the thirty-eighth parallel, in North Korea. (I wonder if any of the trees made it back to life?)

Can you be in a state of "art", when the "art" has not yet been invented? I wondered about it, and then in what flew by in less time than I might have imagined, this new form was there for me to concern myself with.

By foot, by horse, by boat, by train, by plane or by rocket ship propelled to the moon; all in a single lifetime, only taking a second or two to marvel at this magnitude of mans doing. With all these in my lifetime, in order to complement a mans quality of life, these same men manage to wage war in order to destroy what they think they have created under the guise of their endless search for peace.

A single explosive blast and all life on the hillside I’ve depicted would be gone for another lifetime, or perhaps forever.

1943

A ten-year-old boy or girl born in the early thirties, without the benefit of a hill high above their asphalt-covered turf, can only wonder about the shortages, that surround them. They have not yet contemplated relationships, such as their own value to our world, or their net worth as human beings. What has happened to them, without warning is the outrageous introduction of fear.

Begun in 1939, World War II is now ablaze, and their lives as little kids have been summarily renounced. Sure, they still run and play the kids games synonymous with the children of Brooklyn, New York in the early forties. What have dramatically changed are the people around them. The children are privy to the expressions of pain so vividly being registered on the adult faces around them. It is a time period when each of them becomes a working entity within their community. The schools organize paper, and scrap iron and metal drives. The kids are told they are helping the war effort. The word "war" has become common to them as breathing. Though common, it remains beyond comprehension for these ten-year-olds to fathom.

On a bright, warm spring day the children were ushered into their school's assembly hall to meet and listen to a veteran soldier. Excitement ran high for all of them. They wondered what this man hero would be like. Boys and girls alike were charged with the heroic depictions being offered to the general public on a regular nightly radio diet. Truth be told, what the public was hearing was totally controlled government approved information. The documented facts of the time period tell a story of us and our allies getting our brains beat out, on almost every corner of the globe. FDR had decided it would be in the best interest of the country’s morale if the citizenry were kept from hearing the real downtrodden truth.

The children wondered about why many of their parents were on hand for the event. Little did they know, children and parents alike were about to have an experience, which would stay with them for a lifetime? The schools history teacher, himself a returning, wounded World War II veteran, took the stage and briefly introduced the star of the show. His preface was a simple statement of fact:

“Like the soldier you are about to meet, I to have experienced the cruelty of war. And as a veteran, I share a bond with all other veterans who have served our country in time of war or peace. We are a large and proud group of men and women. I will count today as one of the finest moments of my lifetime.”

And then he said: (In a much softer voice than before)

” Albert Henry Woolson is here with us today as a returning Civil War veteran, He was born in 1850, and had entered our Union Army, some say at age fifteen. We hope you all will enjoy what he has to say about this great country of ours.”

At that moment the parents and children were instantly united in wonderment as this Civil War veteran, age ninety-three, made his way across the stage to the speaker's rostrum with only the use of a single cane assisting him. The history teacher adjusted the microphone, which was attached to the speaker's stand, and then signaled for us to rise, as he turned, placed his hand over his heart and stood facing our flag. Albert Henry Woolson raised his right arm as straight as he could make it go and began the Pledge Of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. It was the best salute any of the parents or children had ever witnessed. His voice was quiet, but strong. His delivery was deeply prideful. All in attendance marveled at this patriot, the antithesis of inspiration during this time of our countries greatest conflict.

“It was seventy eight years ago, in 1865 when our terrible Civil War came to its end. I was a young man then; the reports say I was fifteen years of age. When you get as old as I am, it becomes hard to remember anything other than how scared I was at the time. But some things remain with me…like being high up on top of a hill one day. By myself; you know, wondering about a lot of things. One of which was wondering if there could ever be another war as bad as this one. Well a few years later I got my answer; it was called World War 1;and they said it was the war to end all wars. It began in 1914, just forty-nine years after our Civil War ended. By then I was sixty-nine years old. I moved into my own home high up on top of a nice grassy hill. There was a lot of time then for me to wonder about things. I figured I’d seen the last of big wars. But you know what, I was wrong. In just twenty short years, it all began again. This was what we live with today. We call it WWII. Here I am again, wondering if this will finally be the one to end all wars and preserve the peace we thought we were going to have as a result of ending our civil unrest. We lost our great leader then, president Abraham Lincoln. I sure hope none of you ever have to go through the sorrow of losing your president, for whatever the reason may be."

He completed his little presentation and marched off the stage to a loud and lengthy ovation. Two years later the president of the United States, FDR died. Albert Henry Woolson lived on for another thirteen years.

Note: Albert Henry Woolson (February 11, 1850 – August 2, 1956) was the last surviving member of the Union Army, which fought in the American Civil War. He was just turning age fifteen when he entered the service of our country.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was the 32nd President of the United States. January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945; he was sixty-three years old at the time of his death.
***

And so, as I began with my own wonderment revelations; continuing today, unable to refrain from the same wonder of wonders; the passage of time.

The changes and the sameness continue on. Today, I once again find myself high a top of a hill. There are no explosives to be found. I live here in the present, but remain in contemplation and wonderment.

One day not too long ago (a lifetime), in another century (1952), I found myself a top a hill in a far away land. There remains miles of separation, across a massive expanse of water; commanding those before me, but relinquishing their command to jet planes. My communication with those covered by the word love remains covered, much as in the past; now faster, but not better. While I had yet to feel any real sense of mortality then, today the more human aspects have taken over. Those at home who wondered about my safety are no longer.

Note: My safety is no longer in the balance. The safety of my country, and of my comrades at arms remains alarmingly the same.

If one day I am the old man to walk across a stage, in a theater filled with children and their parents, will I be unassisted and able to raise my arm in a salute, and be able to lead them in a pledge of allegiance to our country? I wonder!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

North Korea


Talk, talk, and talk. The newspapers and the TV talking heads are all at it again. The despot jerk that was the leader of one of the most depressed countries the world has ever known has dropped dead, they say from an apparent heart attack. I doubt if anyone could ever treat his fellow citizens more despicably.

North Korea rots, while South Korea during the course of the last fifty-nine years has become one of the world’s global leaders. The north shrivels, while the south educates. What this communist regime, like all others, has always stood for is exemplified by bareness and depravity.

I witnessed first hand, as a young soldier a truth I had previously found too harsh to be believed. But the truth was just that. The barbaric presence of the communist leaders weighs so heavily on the shoulders of the North Korean people; their plight remains so miring, escape and freedom has become a virtual impossibility. The North Korean leaders have systematically removed all modern devices from the day-to-day lives of their people. While the south bathes in lights provided by electricity and its children have become privy to every computerized method of study known to man, the north, figuratively and materially has remained in the dark. But on the other hand, many argue, you don’t miss what you’ve never had. While almost everyone in South Korea duplicates the cell phone use of most modern societies, the families, as well as the business people, except those of the government are rarely if ever privy to a land line telephone. The beat is relentless; what is television, what is a washing machine, what does the word vaccine mean?

And by the way, how in the world can a people exist without actors? They have no Screen Actors Guild, no A.F.T.R.A, no agents, or personal managers. “Let’s go out and have a frozen yogurt ”; forget about it.

North Koreans wouldn’t dream of doing a Wall Street type of sit in. Americans, unlike our president, aren’t brought up to bow to despots. North Koreans, on the other hand make it a point to bow to everyone. Oh, I forgot, they do have one good thing; they don’t worry about having an Internal Revenue audit. Since the government owns everything, higher taxes aren’t a problem. They can’t promote a new congressional bill adding more taxation to the rich, because they emptied their pail years ago; kind of what we see happening in most of Europe today. Except for the military, and their president, who becomes president similarly to any family inheritance, their playing field is level; all are poor.

On July 27, 1953 at 9PM, at a semi horrid location to exist, the Korean Conflict, (that’s what it was called) came to a less than an auspicious ending. As a soldier none of us trusted what our leaders had to say. It wasn’t distrust because we felt our commanders were liars; our distrust was caused by a disbelief that this miserable war had really come to an end. We all thought it was too good to come true.

My purpose for writing this paper is straightforward, offered as a clarification for some of the deceit being fed to the American public. I pray the impact of my words does more than merely sneak up on you. By that I mean I pray those who can stay with me for a moment or two, might come away with a feeling our country is more than average. Please let it sink in. I’m not God, but please trust my verbal integrity as if it were the gospel.

If it were not for the United States Of America, the country of South Korea would not exist as we know it today: a country, much like ours, which shines, and promotes the growth of its citizens. South Korea is a capitalist society. North Korea is a communist dictatorship. And again, if it were not for the United States of America, the country and the people of South Korea would be held under the same tyrannical leadership as their brethren to the north. The students of Korea are now ranked third in the world in science and mathematics. While the north builds their army and bombs with an enormous capability to destroy, the capital city of Seoul, just twenty-five miles to the south enjoys the fruit of their existence as a capitalistic society.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO MY READERS:
  • When WWII ended, the Japanese were forced to relinquish their dictatorial possession of the Korean Peninsula.
  • In 1945 the United Sates and the Soviet Union divided Korea, separating north and south at the thirty-eighth parallel. Ultimately the Russians gave way to the Chinese communists.
  • Spurred on by the Chinese, the North Korean army attacked and invaded the south. The United States came to the aid of the south, ultimately destroying the destructive capabilities of the northern army. It was then that the Chinese entered the conflict.
  • Fifty thousand Americans were lost as a result of the Korean Conflict.
  • South Korea is a free and thriving country as a result of the Korean Conflict.
In order of occupancy; first it was a kingdom (the Japanese), then the Russian communists (also known as Socialists), and today the North Korean Communists, (also known as Socialists).

A quick recap reveals, and perhaps an even more rapid-fire history lesson clearly shows the plain facts. The people of South Korea in less than sixty years surpassed the tyrannical despotic leaders who mercilessly deprived their own citizens from any semblance of human dignity.

I suppose I am being naïve. Certainly everyone in our (still) free society is entitled to his or her own verbal stance. What it boils down to is my lack of patience and understanding for those who see the United States as a world detractor. Sir Winston Churchill expounded on his fervent belief that without the courage and determination of the Unites States of America, not only would Great Britain have fallen, but also Adolph Hitler, originally organized under the guise of socialism, would have seized all of Europe as well. Churchill along with many other great historians pointed out, the socialist, communist, dictatorships of the world all practiced the same credo, “divide and conquer, isolate the normal divisions between people, and foster blame on those being isolated as the cause factor for the current denigration that they, the socialists had brought upon their own people.” Race, creed, and color were all the ammunition necessary in order to divide the countries of Europe. Take God out of the mix and you have lock, stock, and barrel the grist for the formation and solid foundation of every nation in the history of world civilization that failed, void of magnanimity.

Keep in mind, what Churchill said, was the supposition of the necessity of a right wing and a left in order to gain and sustain flight. Weakness will never be able to maintain prolonged or aggressive flight. He (Churchill) pointed to the United States as a centrist country. Many confuse being a centrist with being a coward. Nothing could be further from the truth; between the wings, find the body of the bird, no matter how large or small.

In closing, I do have a single simple request to make. If any of you out there know of an incident in the history of this world we live in today where any civilization can remotely match the success the United States of America has experienced in the same short number of years we have existed, please pass it along.