What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie?
I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky.
The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing;
Rush in and die dogs--I was a man before I was a king!
---From The Road of Kings

My mother also served Naval Special Intellegence in Washington, DC, and her brother, my uncle served on Destroyers in the Pacific in the Navy.

What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie?
I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky.
The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing;
Rush in and die dogs--I was a man before I was a king!
---From The Road of Kings

What do I know of cultured ways, the gilt, the craft and the lie?
I, who was born in a naked land and bred in the open sky.
The subtle tongue, the sophist guile, they fail when the broadswords sing;
Rush in and die dogs--I was a man before I was a king!
---From The Road of Kings

But for some reason I've always been interested in facts and stories during WW2. I myself stumbled upon a bundle of letters from a young woman who befriended herself to any and all who wanted to write her during the war. Some wrote her a lot of letters, some only one. As I went through them I had a keen sense of not having closure in knowing what happened to them.

I am 26 years old and even though I know a lot more about WW2 than most people my age I never feel like it's enough. I read books on it, I even search out movies made in the late 30's to ,mid 40's to get a sense of what it was like but even that was completely Hollywoodized.
That is why I agree that it's horrible that people my age hardly know what Pearl Harbor signified, and a ration book? I would think that would be a given, but that just goes to show you much college student really aren't learning.

My grandfather was at the tail end of WW2 and was out right before the Korean War, so he wasn't dodging fighter practice bullets or in occupied territory but he was able to tell me a little about his experience in radar. He also told me about seeing the entertainers come to his camp and play for "the guys." I get everything I can out of him, we can't let this stuff just fade. My grandmother tells me a lot about the food shortages and clothing shortages, but she also worked on the family farm so it wasn't even half as bad as it could have been. She told me about her older brothers coming back from war and the way she felt while they were away fighting. She once (because she was so upset her brothers were fighting)stood up in her chair at the movies while everyone was eating their popcorn peacefully waiting for the flick to start and she yelled at the top of her lungs "Kill them dirty ------" and everyone hooted and hollered their support to her.

Sorry if this reply seems a little over the top but coming from the generation that lacks in knowledge of this subject, and worse doesn't reach out to learn, I too am upset and agree with what you said.

C

Tennessee Dave