Liberation
You Must Go To Bear Witness, And Gain Wisdom
One of the most fortunate things that ever happened to me was having a friend recommend me to serve on the National World War Two Museum’s Board of Trustees. I am not on that board but you never really leave. It is a truly special place and it’s easy to interact with it online, but you need to physically go there and see it. There is a massive difference in how the museum permeates your conscience when you are in it.
I was able to attend the grand opening of the new Liberation Pavilion. When I initially joined the board, there were two buildings. The Louisiana Pavilion and the Solomon Victory Theatre. Here is the entire opening celebration if you want to see it.
When you go, you will learn things about the US and war you never knew. But, with the new Liberation Pavilion, you will gain wisdom. If you have not been to this museum, you need to come. It will be life-changing for you in some way. You will see something in your life differently. You will be challenged in your beliefs and have to struggle to think about them. You will gain wisdom. Your children and family will gain wisdom. Wisdom is the most powerful weapon on earth that sustains freedom and liberty.
It is an auspicious time in our world history to be opening this particular part of the museum, and tell that history, but also talk about what happened after the war and why it is still meaningful today.
This article is a pretty good write-up of the celebration, and what you will see.
I flew home from New Orleans early yesterday morning. This morning I got a cup of coffee. I opened my computer to pro-Palestinian, therefore pro-terrorism and anti-humanity, people storming the gates of the White House, marching in various cities across the world. In Paris on the subway, they chanted this:
« Nique les juifs et Nique ta mère,
Vive la Palestine Ouais Ouais,
Nique les juifs et les grands-mères,
On est des nazis On est fiers »
Translation:
Fuck the Jews and Fuck your ma,
Long live Palestine Yeah Yeah,
Fuck the Jews and the gran[dmother]s,
We are Nazis We are proud
At first, it makes me sad, then angry. Men that I was just with volunteered to dedicate years of their lives so that we wouldn’t have to deal with that anymore. Their friends were left behind, losing their lives. America didn’t come as conquerors to pillage what was left after the war. Instead, we liberated and enabled people in those countries to have self-determination. We spent money to rebuild them.
One of the most powerful themes of the Liberation Pavilion is that we are always very close to losing our grasp on liberty and freedom. As President Ronald Reagan said, “one generation away”. The recent world events ought to disabuse you of any belief that the freedoms guaranteed by our Bill of Rights are always going to be there.
The pavilion opening had its share of stars, but for me the stars were the 41 Medal of Honor recipients that were there. They are truly special people. Every one of them is amazing in their own way. They know what the price of liberation is. They also know the cost of not being liberated.
On college campuses across America, administrations tolerate the hate. They have remained silent, or tried to walk a razor’s edge to not “upset or offend anyone”. That is offensive. When I see a student leader organize an assault on an innocent classmate, we know the leadership principles are wrong and it starts at the top along with the faculty that teaches the students. They not only enable hate but often support and teach it.
In one of the snippets of oral histories that I watched many stood out. But, for the purposes of this post I will paraphrase one story I watched. On the day this Jewish man was liberated at his camp, it happened to be Shabbat. An American Army officer offered to give him a ride in his Jeep to wherever he wanted to go to get away from the camp.
He said, “This morning I woke up a slave. This afternoon, I am a free man. Since it is Shabbat, I am not supposed to travel. I never had that choice before. If the Nazi told me to work on Shabbat, I had to work. If they fed me non-kosher food, I had to eat it or otherwise die. Now that I am free, I can make a choice and so I will travel tomorrow.” He spent that night in the camp and left the next day.
You see, the pro-Palestinian people don’t just want to exterminate every Jewish person off the face of the earth in a modern-day Final Solution. They want to eliminate you too, even if you aren’t religious. Because, when you are a slave, you become a commoditized sub-human. You are eliminated. You have no freedom to choose. You must bend the knee.
For what it is worth, tyrannical governments can do the exact same thing and I think we are experiencing it in America. In my opinion, our American bureaucracy has gotten so big, that it has become tyrannical. The Founding Fathers wrote extensively about that and understood it. But, we have forgotten those lessons. A government doesn’t keep you free. Citizens fighting the daily fight for our own personal liberty, and being empowered to do it, keeps us free.
This is our generation’s fight to remain free. We can’t lose it.
Great stuff as always. Truly inspired writing and wisdom. Bravo and well played!
As the son of a WWII veteran -- both my father and my mother served -- I am forever linked to what they did for the world and the Nation. It was the central thread of the family tapestry and inspired me to serve.
Too soon we forget.
At the end of the war, Gen Eisenhower mandated that American officers visit the concentration camps so their horror could never be denied. He was brilliantly prescient given current events.
My father, who was closemouthed about his service until I was in the Army myself, described the absolute evil of the place he visited. When I visited several concentration camps when on active duty in Germany, I had the same experience -- revolting evil.
That generation was hard men who dropped their civilian endeavors and picked up rifles and did what had to be done -- kill the enemies of freedom.
That is the task of the current generation of leaders as there is no negotiating with evil. Our current leadership is so weak and so lacking in grit and character -- including the military -- I wonder if we can understand and embrace what needs to be done.
God bless America.
JLM
www.themusingsofthebigredcar.com
I don't like to repeat myself but, thanks again for saying clearly what I am sure many of us are feeling.
Our government has become a tyranny. It has happened like the frog gets boiled, slowly so most don't realize it until it is too late to escape. It's important to note that this applies to all levels of government, not just the feds. Seems like most people don't care enough to stand up to this, or don't know how to push back. I know that I feel that way often. I do try to make my voice heard at a local and state level, and I vote, but often it seems futile. I "console" myself with the thought that I am getting older and the decay will be slow until I am gone, but that makes me feel guilty for my son. What are we to do? For me the ultimate comfort is in my Christian faith.