Letter to the Editor: A Crossroads

The year: 1945. Germany surrendered, two atomic bombs fell on Japan, and World War II ended.  

The next month I came alive, born into a country giddy from the end of conflict, filled with hope that was crafted by dedicated humans. People had sacrificed everything – from victory gardens to rationing to blown off arms and legs to death. People who I would never know gave so much that I might live in a world of hope. They didn’t all agree, as nobody ever does. But they all pulled together: the military, farmers, workers, wives, husbands, kids, veterans, all fighting for one cause: peace. 

I grew up in that world, learning to add, read, appreciate history and how to love others. I survived Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and many more. I remember conflict – Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and country-wide disagreements on them. But I also remember a country that, in time, came together. Despite all our differences, we did get through. Easy? No! But we did get through and life went on. We sacrificed, struggled and died, but the United States survived, as did the  Presidency, states, Congress, courts and city councils. All were built on a foundation of history, sacrifice, giving and understanding that each of us is unique; with a right to live together in a country of freedom, justice, and equality.

A new idea? No. An idea dreamed of by the Greeks, Romans, English; crafted from the Magna Charta to the Constitution. 

So, where are we today? At a crossroads. Do we dissolve all that we have created over the centuries? Shall we claim victory over those with whom we disagree and create a new form of government that only works for half of us? A society where there are victors and vanquished? 

I think not.  

What do you think? I’m not preaching. I just want you to think.

Bob Gray

Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin