The veterans of World War II have been called members of the greatest generation. They have been greatly honored and rightfully so. They endured the most terrible war the world has known. During those four terrible years approximately 16,000,000 served. Almost 1,000,000 were casualties; this includes 310,000 killed, 672,000 wounded and as in every war a number who just simply disappeared, unaccounted for -- 12,800 MIA. This brave generation won that war and they deserve every accolade a grateful nation can give them

What prepared these men and women to fight and win the ugliest of wars? They had lived through a great depression. High inflation, jobless rates in the range of one out of four eligible workers without a job, hand-me-down clothes. When war came, they were lean and tough; they were already survivors. They had an unquenchable independence of spirit and a love for America that transcended cultural backgrounds and creeds. Their fathers and grandfathers had fought their wars and given them a legacy of honor.

I was too young to go to war but I was old enough to remember. I remember listening to the car radio on a brisk, clear Sunday afternoon in December 1941. The sun was low in the skies as we made our way home to Lubbock from my Aunt Kate's house in Post. "We interrupt this broadcast," said the announcer on KFYO, the voice of the South Plains. "It has been announced in Washington that the Japanese bombed and strafed the American fleet at Pearl Harbor and the Army Air Base at Hickam Field, Honolulu, Hawaii, at about sunrise this morning. Damage is said to be massive and the death toll of American servicemen is expected to be high. … " I was only eight but my world changed. Lubbock in 1940 was a small college town. Most had never seen a soldier in uniform. Now soldiers were everywhere and the skies were filled with aircraft.

What is the point of this reminiscing, Jerry? Well, it is almost Veterans Day, for one thing. My war, however, is the one no one wants to talk about. The media say we lost it and the college students of that day called us "murderers" and "baby killers." Nonetheless I am proud to have served. I believe it was a just cause and I know the charges are untrue and the media missed the mark.

That is not my reason for writing these things. I am not bitter about Vietnam and I fought for the right of the media and the students to think and say what they pleased. I write this today because I can't help but wonder if Pearl Harbor were to happen today would we have the stomach and the backbone to rise up again and defend the freedoms this blessed country has given us? I see how quickly we have forgotten the loss of two wonderful buildings that stood so proudly on the shore of Manhattan and 3000 Americans crushed to death.

I see our young men and women of another generation fighting for another just cause. It is not oil, folks, it is freedom. I see the same forces gathering against them and I wonder could we stand again against a determined enemy? And I fear if we do not wake up we will find out and find ourselves wanting.