The 1960's were turbulent times, African Americans were fighting for equal rights, America's youth were fighting against the Vietnam War.
The early 60's headlines were consumed with racial equality. President Kennedy desegregated the schools allowing African American kids to attend traditionally white schools, colleges and universities thereby obtaining an education equal to that of white kids. President Kennedy was assinated during his second year of office in November, 1962, I was a freshman in high school.
Vice President Lyndon Johnson was sworn into the office of President and over the next few years he dealt with a multitude of issues including racial equality, the Vietnam War and civil protest about both issues. He did get a Civil Rights Bill passed but it took a lot of arm twisting and organized peaceful marches particularly in southern cities.
A Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. from Atlanta, Georgia was the leader of the racial equality movement, he advocated against violence even though many of the marchers were met with violence and even death.
In 1965 I enlisted in the U. S. Navy, while attending boot camp I received my draft notice.
After two years in the Navy I was given orders to an outfit in Vietnam, I left in late November. There were protest and even rioting against the war, college students and other young people from around the country marched and confronted authorities on campuses and streets. Heads were busted with nightsticks, blood ran from cuts and lacerations, police cars were set afire, university buildings were occupied. The National guard was called up, students were arrested, beaten and at Kent State University several were shot and killed by the National Guard.
I returned from my first Vietnam assignment in late March 1968 and was allowed to return home to get Linda. We left Nashville, Tennessee in the afternoon of April 4, 1968 and started driving to San Diego, California. About halfway to Memphis, Tn. we heard on the radio that Dr. King, who was in Memphis, had been assinated. Tensions were so high that a curfew was placed on the city, we slipped through just as the curfew went into effect, moving on we passed through Little Rock, Ar. slightly ahead of the curfew for that city. Every major city in the country was consumed with riots, looting and the burning of cars, businesses and homes.
During all of this, war protesters kept up their vigil, GI's returning from their tours in Vietnam were cursed and spit on, they were called "baby killers". Everyday newspapers around the country printed the names of fallen GI's killed in action, their numbers grew into the hundreds then thousands, the returning wounded numbered into the thousands and filled VA hospitals across the nation.
I was fortunate, I returned unscathed, Linda and I picked up our lives and moved on. When I returned from Vietnam I received a welcome home package from the Navy, one of the things it held was a family coupon book for Disneyland in Anihiem, Ca., having never been Linda and I drove to LA and picked up her cousin Bobby, who was about ten at the time, and took him to Disneyland with us.
Disneyland had a hall of presidents, it was a collection of robotic beings that looked like every president from George Washington to Lyndon Johnson, they sat and stood around as a group, smiling and nodding their heads as you walked by. The main character was President Abraham Lincoln, he sat in a straight back arm chair, his legs crossed, his fingers tapping on the arm, his head turned from side to side and nodded, his eyes followed you as you walked by, it was eerie. When the audience was seated the lights went down and a spot went up on Lincoln, he uncrossed his legs, and stood then began to speak.
It was a speech he gave January 27, 1838, his Lyceum speech, I had chills on my spine then and have never forgotten the experience. The following is a portion of the speech although a very significant portion for 1968 and especially today - June, 2020.
"Shall we expect some Trans Atlantic military giant to step the ocean and crush us at a blow? Never ! All of the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth in their military chest with Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force take a drink from the Ohio or make a track on the Blue Ridge in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected ? I answer. If it ever reach us it must spring up amongst us, it can not come from abroad. If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be it's author and finisher. As a nation of free men we must live through all time or die by suicide."
Over the last four months our nation and the rest of the world has been in a battle with a virus called Covid - 19. People have been shut up in their homes fearful of contracting this disease that has sickened and killed thousands in Georgia alone. Tensions are running high, people are ready to get back to work while others think we should stay in quarantine for a while longer.
A spark ignites a flame, a policeman uses too much force and an African American in custody dies. Nationwide protest erupt, before it is all over the protest will grow to world wide proportions with protest in many countries.
Once again the streets are filled with young people protesting police brutality, racism and death of black men and women at the hands of the police. The protest start out peaceful but soon turn violent. Outsiders infiltrate the protesters, starting fires, taunting law enforcement, breaking into and looting businesses. Arrests are made, people on both sides are injured and even killed. Because it is an election year, political parties are using the turmoil to sway voters to their side.
Change is demanded by the protesters, they are tired of being lied to, tired of being used then forgotten until they were needed again - usually at election time. The powers that be are anxious to appease the protesters so monuments of the past, offensive to some, are removed without regard to their true meaning. Talk of defunding police departments in major cities across the nation is rapidly growing. Blame is thrown out to all corners yet no one accepts it. For days the protest continue, curfews are put in place, violence continues.
Finally, after more than a week things start to calm, the agitators are gone, the protest are more peaceful and of shorter duration. The clean up begins, life becomes somewhat more normal but most likely it may never be what we call normal again.
I have lived through a lot of changes in my time, every generation does to some extent. Every generation complains about the new generation and it's ability to survive without them. I hope I'm wrong but this generation that is protesting now gives me serious doubts as to the future my grandchildren will have, for sure it will not be the idyllic times I grew up in. I can only hope people can come to their senses.
You can't change history by removing monuments, you can't understand history by picking only the parts that fit your ideas, you can't move forward into the future without bringing some of the past with you.
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November 9, 2020
2020 has been and continues to be the most screwed up year in recent memory. First the Democrats of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate continue their culminated their attempt to impeach the Republican President Donald Trump. They have been at this since President Trump was elected and took office in 2016, you might ask why the democrats have spent so much time and millions of tax dollars to impeach a duly elected President, in my opinion and that of many others the reason for the impeachment is pretty simple - HATRED. They hate President Trump because he is not "presidential", he threatens the political way of doing things, he is not and has never been a politician, he is a very successful businessman worth many billions of dollars. The impeachment failed as everyone but the Democrats knew it would.
While the impeachment was going on a virus called Codiv19 arrived on the scene from China. The virus was and continues to be deadly especially in the larger metropolitan areas or anywhere the people gather in large groups. There has been nothing like it since the Spanish flu of the early 1900's where more than fifty million people died worldwide. There is no known cure for Codiv19, it is particularly hard on old people and anybody with preexisting conditions like cancer, COPD, heart conditions, obesity and diabetes. The death toll in the United States stands at about 300,000, world wide deaths are running into the millions with 50 million people infected. The world is shut down as citizens everywhere have been ordered to stay home and only go out for essential errands. Businesses not deemed essential are closed, hospitals are overloaded with the sick and dying. Every where you go you have to wear a mask to keep from spreading the germs or to keep from inhaling the germs.
Kay and I became hermits, all of our normal activities were canceled and due to my age Kay kept me bundled up at home. Kay would go out to the get groceries that she ordered on line while I stayed home. Our Sunday drives in the country became just that, we would ride around sight seeing but never stopping if there were any people, bottles of hand sanitizer were in each door of the truck and it was used anytime we got out of the truck. Our barber was closed so I didn't get a haircut for about four months and because I wasn't seeing anybody other than Kay, I decided to grow a beard. Daily life as we knew it no longer existed, a new term was coined "the new normal".
The virus seemed to run amuck for a while then new cases and death tolls would drop, the country would was lulled into letting down their defenses, mandates were relaxed, the rush to get the country back to work was on. Things were looking good.
This is an election year, the Democrats are working hard to defeat President Trump and gain a majority in the House and Senate, the Republicans are working hard to defeat the Democrats. Adding to this fight is the fight for racial justice, several black criminals have been killed by police in several cities, protestors took to the streets and as usual there is somebody who wants to take advantage of situations so the protests would turn to looting, burning and assaults. The protest turn into riots with results in people on both sides being hurt, protestors are jailed, businesses are burned and looted. Strangely enough these riots seem to only take place in Democratic run cities and states. Riots in many cities have been going on now for more than 150 days with no end in sight.
There is a movement that calls for the defunding of the police, mayors, governors and city council members restrict the response the police are allowed to give many times claiming the protest are peaceful. There are two new groups who appeared on the protesting scene - BLM and Antifa. The BLM stands for Black Lives Matter and people flock to them. I was believed the BLM was supposed to stand with black people and support them in their quest for racial justice, everyone thought it would do something good for the black community but the black community is waiting for that to happen, seems the BLM is more interested rioting, looting, taking over cities and tearing down statues they deem offensive. So far I have seen nothing good come from the BLM movement, their leaders are professed Marxist who are prepared to destroy our democratic society, they believe in socialism.
Antifa is a left wing political movement whose stated goal is to disrupt the American way of life even if they have to become violent. In short they want to turn America into a socialist state.
The presidential election has been held, it turned into a big surprise - a democrat was elected to the office of president, the House of Representatives remains controlled by the democrats and the Senate won't know who is in control until a run-off election for two Georgia seats takes place January 5th, 2021. Pressure is being applied to the citizens of Georgia to get out and vote, the Democrats are slinging the proverbial mud at the Republicans and the Republicans are slinging mud back at them. President Trump, even though he doesn't have the Electoral votes has refused to concede the election, he is fighting the results in the courts claiming fraud and mismanagement of the election system.
I'm seventy three years old, I can remember presidential elections back to the election of John Kennedy in 1959, he was the first Catholic President. This has been the been the election to end all elections. I have never seen such hatred the two parties have for each other, a hatred that has spilled over to the voters. The two parties no longer seem to want to work for the common good of the American people, each party considers their ideals to be the best for the country and each seems to be hell bent on dominance of the other - America be damned.
In the mean time, the virus has reared it's ugly head again, the number of cases have started to climb as well as the death rate. The Democrats blame President Trump for many of the deaths claiming he failed to implement protective measures quick enough back in the first of the year and now that the virus has been revived they say he has again failed to take action by making nationwide mandatory regulations. Many, myself included, think that Trump has done all that he could do under the circumstances, under his watch the country has virtually been shut down. Unemployment has reached record rates, business closings have reached an all time high with many small businesses closing for good. In the beginning the country was ill prepared with needed medical supplies and equipment, President Trump had several big businesses halt production of their products and start producing the needed supplies and distribute them around the country and even to other parts of the world where needed.
President Trump removed Federal regulations so pharmaceutical companies could quickly develop a vaccine and get it into production. As of now there are several companies with an emergency approval of their vaccine from the FDA, millions of doses of a vaccine are ready to ship with inoculations to start in mid December.
There is still another month of this year to go, I would say I'm ready to get off of this rollercoaster, which I am, but I'm worried for our future. Will the Senate races here in Georgia leave the Senate in the control of the Republicans, will the Democrats be successful in the pursuit of their programs of open borders, defunding of the police, support for late term abortions and raising taxes to cover the free programs they have promised.
Lincoln's Lyceum speech looms large in my mind, the people of the United States are as divided now as they were in the mid 1800's prior to the Civil War. There is a division of the races and political parties, there are new factions whose sole purpose seems to be to widen the gaps of the divisions and hope that from the turmoil a new society will emerge, a society of socialism.
Lincoln was right in that America can not be destroyed by the armies of other nations but it can be brought down by hordes of disgruntled citizens with an idea of a new and better form of government. Never in my life have I imagined such turmoil in America, I can only hope calmer minds on both side will prevail.
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