Asking the wrong question

The joy in the air was electric, pervasive, and long overdue.

It cannot be described with mere words.

There were 140 million sighs of relief followed by unrelenting tears. But they weren’t timid tears, the kind you quickly wipe off your cheek in embarrassment. They were tears of victory. Everyone had them.

V-J Day had arrived, and the curtains had finally closed over the Second World War, a stage for the greatest generals, the most tumultuous battles, and the most heroic acts of courage known to man.

The Greatest Generation had left its mark on history. All the sweat, blood and unlimited determination had finally ended a war that we had no intention of starting.

War has a negative connotation, and rightly so. But out of the depths of our losses, hadn’t mankind displayed more good than evil during those six years of conflict? Isn’t it just possible war had brought out the best in us?

There is no question that patriotism was our greatest weapon against totalitarianism. And Americans did not look to the definition of patriotism in order to learn how to fulfill their wartime duties, but their actions ended up defining patriotism.

If you were five years old you gathered cotton from milkweed pods to put in life vests for sailors. If you were 10 you collected rubber, aluminum and glass. If you were 18 you joined the service.

If you were a mother, you rationed. If you were 4F, you sold war bonds and worked the factories. If you were too old to fight, you wrote letters, distributed leaflets or served as air raid wardens.

We won World War II because we wanted to.

George Patton told us that, “In war, the only sure defense is offense, and the efficiency of the offense depends on the warlike souls of those conducting it.”

We are at war, so we must ask ourselves:

What is the condition of my soul? Is the fiery desire for victory stirring within my heart, or are they fading embers?

Maybe the fire was never there.

Members of our Armed Forces are not the only soldiers in the War on Terror. We, too, must be warriors. It’s time for us to put our helmets back on.

The battlefield has switched from Germany and Japan to Afghanistan, and our faith has been shaken. Americans are asking, “Can we win this war?”

Reporters ask the White House, “Can we win?”. The White House asks our generals, “Can we win?”. The generals ask their soldiers, “Can we win?”.

And the soldiers, who know they can, look at us, the ones they fight for. Politicians say they believe in the ability of our troops to win in Afghanistan.

But why should our soldiers believe in us?

Wars are won by an unshakable desire to crush the enemy and provide a safe future for the lives of our children, as well as the life of freedom.

If the flame flickers, it fades. When Americans, people of the greatest nation on earth, ask about a war, “Can we win?”, then it is a war we have already lost.

So let’s get with it, America. We’re going to win this war. The question we should be asking is, “What am I doing to help us win?”

This column will be continued next week.