history

“Five Words that Changed America”

/ Richard L. Marrash / 2 Comments

That is the title of an opinion piece running today in the New York Times by opinion writer Jamelle Bouie. The author reminds us not only of the universality of the principles posited in the Declaration of Independence, but also how restricted their application was in the general understanding of the American colonists at the time. The following text is taken directly from his article. I recommend reading the entire piece, as well as the opinion pieces by various other authors who contributed to the story of today’s celebration. (See the link to Bouie’s article at the end of this post).

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

“This Declaration is a profound statement of values: of a universal aspiration for human freedom. As President Gerald Ford said in a speech marking the nation’s bicentennial, ‘The Declaration is the Polaris of our political order — the fixed star of freedom. It is impervious to change because it states moral truths that are eternal.‘

“As a matter of civic faith, this is what the Declaration means. As a matter of history, however, the story is much more complicated.

“As Thomas Jefferson wrote it, the Declaration was less an affirmation of human equality than a pointed claim about the nature of political authority and a powerful assertion of the right of revolution, informed by the Enlightenment writings of John Locke and other social contract theorists. It was meant as an argument about the preconditions of government — an assertion of the purity of prelapsarian life — not a road map for emancipation.“

The Declaration alone did not change everything, obviously. As we know from our American history, emancipation and equality for all would take a civil war and decades of painful struggles for social change and civil rights to arrive at where we are today–better than before, yet far from achievement of the desired goal: equality...for all. We are still a work in progress toward a more perfect union.

Today we are facing a shameless assault on what had been for so long iconic American values: fairness, justice, kindness, civility, and respect for difference of opinion. We had been, and for the most part still remain, a bright beacon to myriads of people around the world. We are Americans! And we stand together to maintain those shared values that have made our country the envy of every nation in the world and the destination of all those seeking freedom from tyranny and oppression (Life and Liberty) and freedom of opportunity (Pursuit of happiness). We are not a people who cherish malice and self-service, lies and deception, corruption and self-aggrandizement. We were founded for just the opposite reason, and we fought a bloody civil war to uphold those traditional values because we were “dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal“. We must remain so.

The nation known as the United States of America is the longest-enduring democracy in the history of the world. No other political entity or state based on self-government by its own people has ever existed as long or in as complete a form as the United States of America. We are unique in the history of mankind. We take just pride in our virtues, but one might ask, “Do we have flaws? Sure we do, and many corrections are needed to get it right. “Democracy,” as Winston Churchill said, “is the worst form of government–except for all the others!” So as we celebrate 250 years as a democratic republic based on equal justice for all and the rule of law, let’s dedicate ourselves to the proposition of overcoming the serious challenges to our democracy from those who sneer at our values and cynically look to serve only themselves. Their tool for doing that is by continually sowing dissension among us: divide et impera, divide and conquer. By standing together we can reject their bogus attempts to redefine us for their personal advantage and profit. Together we can reclaim our founding virtues, and stand proudly as Americans who think for ourselves, who cannot so easily be duped into giving up our birthright to those who despise it. We must come together, as our forefathers did, for we are Americans, and we will not give up our founding principles to political predators and self-serving opportunists.

Following ratification of the of the American Constitution in 1789, Benjamin Franklin wondered if we could keep our republic. We can reassure him, Mr. Franklin, we have kept it! And what a remarkable achievement it is: 250 years of government of the people, by the people, and for the people. So today, along with our families and friends, let’s celebrate our grand old flag and enjoy the blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. May God bless the United States of America and keep her safe for our children and our grandchildren, for all our fellow citizens, and for all generations to come.

Link to Jamelle Bouie’s NYT article, “Five Words that Changed America”.

The Longest Day

/ Richard L. Marrash / Leave a comment

That’s the title of a great film that tells the story of a great generation–Tom Brokaw called it the Greatest Generation. Produced by the legendary Darryl F. Zanuck, the film is full of great actors and many lesser known ones, but it tells the story of D-Day, 6 June 1944, from both the Allied and the German perspectives. It tells of the very bad weather that caused multiple postponements and almost scuttled the invasion. And it tells of the anxieties of the Allied commanders, especially General Dwight D. Eisenhower, that the invasion–launched under several disadvantages–could very likely end in catastrophe. He had even written in advance an apology for “the failure” of the enterprise, code-named, Operation Overlord. On the German side, a few astute commanders were not convinced by Adolf Hitler’s insistence that the invasion would come at Pas-de-Calais rather than Normandy. In the film, one of the commanders, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, is asked why he does not voice his concerns to Hitler. His answer, dramatized in the film, but never actually uttered by von Rundstedt, is “Weil ich nicht bereit bin, dem Führer zu widersprechen / Because I am not prepared to contradict the Führer.” That response was meant to show the paralysis of the German command system and the reluctance to confront Hitler. Nevertheless, amidst all of the formidable obstacles, Operation Overlord went ahead–and succeeded. Eisenhower never had to use the letter of apology for failure of the invasion.

Earlier this week, I watched a re-broadcast of an interview of one of the few remaining American veterans of D-Day. Veteran foreign correspondent Christiane Amanpour interviewed US Army veteran Jake Lawson who was attending the D-Day memorial ceremonies at Normandy in 2024. He was over 100 years old. Jake left no doubt about the reason for the sacrifices of so many young American and Allied soldiers and sailors in that war. “We all knew, every one of us, why we were fighting: for freedom from tyranny. And to kick Hitler’s ass out of Europe. And we did.” Jake Lawson passed away the following year.

On the anniversary of D-Day, my family has always remembered my paternal uncle, George A. Marrash, United States Army, who served in the 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. Uncle George deployed in the Normandy invasion, and was severely wounded in the Normandy campaign about 9 July 1944. He was evacuated to England where he died of his wounds on 17 July 1944. He is buried in a military cemetery in his home state of Pennsylvania.

Today, I also want to pay a special tribute to another member of my family, who served during World War Two. I would like to recognize and salute my maternal uncle, Sam Sadie, United States Marine Corps. Uncle Sam is 100 years old, a little frail, but still lucid and wise-cracking as ever. After his service in the war, Sam returned home, went to college on the GI Bill, and became an English teacher in the Fairfield Connecticut public school system from which he retired in the late 1980s. Although very few of his contemporaries remain, like them, he has not forgotten why he went to war in 1943.

We must not fail to remember what the Greatest Generation did for all of us, America and the world. Their achievement made possible the uniting of the Western world around the principles that created the United Nations, which emphasized respect for the rule of law in both domestic and international relations and the Bretton Woods agreement that established the global monetary system that has fostered trade and economic progress. The postwar realignment of the World War Two Western Alliance, saw the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which brought together the Western nations in an alliance that has prevented the outbreak of a major war in Europe for almost eighty years, holding back Communist expansion in Europe and across the globe. That is, until February 2022 when an expansionist post-Soviet Russia under Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine bringing an unprovoked war full of violence and death.

All that the Greatest Generation achieved had given the entire world an unprecedented eight decades of relative peace and stability despite the periodic flair up of violent conflicts. That relative peace and stability appears to be unraveling now. Heretofore we have exemplified to the world a society founded on justice and fairness and individual freedom under law. But that world that we have known is being undermined systematically and the values it has maintained for most of the last century and the start of this one are being jettisoned. Greed, self-indulgence, personal ambition, fanatical partisanship, and blatant disregard for ethical and moral norms are rampant. Hypocrisy is at its zenith, and decency is casually scoffed at. We can do better than that. We must do better for our children and grandchildren and the rest of our posterity.

Americans have never failed in the past to respond to our better angels by respecting one another and seeing beyond our personal differences–that is how we truly can make ourselves great again. Let’s rise to the challenge and rebuild our nation around ethical civic behavior, respect for the rule of law, rational policymaking and reliance on education and scientific exploration to advance our progress, and the fostering of compassion and decency toward our fellow man. For in the final analysis, we are all children of God.

IN MEMORIAM (uncles, father-in-law, father, great uncle):

George Marrash, US Army, 23rd Inf. Reg., 2nd Inf. Div., WWII, DOW France, 1944

Tony Marrash, US Army, WWII

Louis Gramesty, US Army, 8th Air Force, WWII

Elias T. Marrash, Auto-Ordnance Co., Thompson Submachine Guns, WWII

Elias Tamey, US Army, WWII

Honor the Fallen … and remember why

/ Richard L. Marrash / Leave a comment

I haven’t posted in a few months. Health issues, especially my worsening eyesight, have sidelined me–and frankly, the relentless domestic political discord and chaotic foreign policy have left me mentally exhausted. I have said my piece in previous posts, and I don’t know that I have anything more to add. But on this day, this day of remembrance, I have chosen to simply re-post my previous Memorial Day comments–as a reminder of why they gave their lives. It bears repeating.

Remembrance is also a reminder. The worst can happen again. In the words of Wendell Phillips, the nineteenth century radical abolitionist and uncompromising champion of democracy and civil rights, “The price of liberty is eternal vigilance.” If you are interested in my thoughts on our contemporary world, read my verse meditation in the tab above “Meditationes Privatae” https://agathopsis.net/contemplations/ It has the Latin title, Adversus Veritatis Contemptores (Against Those Who Despise Truth). I wrote it in November 2020 when denial of the presidential election results began spreading. My feelings haven’t changed. The introduction to my website, Agathopsis, says that this site is dedicated to the search for truth. Sadly, truth has become an obsolete commodity, seldom in demand by the general “consuming” public. The desire now is for whatever nonsense serves to benefit “my team,” whatever fiction gratifies me with what I want to hear, no matter the cost, nor to whom. What a pathetic, unworthy legacy to follow in the footsteps of those we honor today.

Below is my previous summary of why the sacrifice of those we remember today matters, not just to us, the American nation, but to the world, which has for over eighty years looked to America for principled leadership and protection of the rule of law. Where are those values today?

REMEMBER THE FALLEN

Remember why they fell, in what cause: Freedom from political oppression, from religious fanaticism, and from vicious and diabolical prejudice.

In Europe: They fought fascism, and the fascist dictators who were masters of “Big Lies” and deadly actions that turned most of Europe into killing fields for the sacrifice of the innocent to the false idol of the master race and other specious and self-serving myths.

In Asia: They fought to resist the falling dominoes of countries threatened by communist dictatorships and savage coercion into collective action on behalf of the state and the “people.”

In the Middle East: They fought mindless, violent fanaticism that knows no bounds, having defined the will of Providence as its exclusive possession and determined to bring all the world under its rigid theocratic heel.

They fought and died. They held back the tide of evils that continue to threaten us today. Indeed, those evils are gaining strength and spreading their poisonous atmosphere in every direction. The sacrifices of our fallen brothers and sisters in over a century of conflicts cry out to us to keep faith with them. Do not stay silent in the face of evil: lies, deceit, wanton aggression, and lawlessness.

REMEMBER THE FALLEN … AND IN WHAT CAUSE THEY FELL

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IN MEMORIAM (uncles, father-in-law, father, great uncle):

George Marrash, US Army, 23rd Inf. Reg., 2nd Inf. Div., WWII, DOW France, 1944

Tony Marrash, US Army, WWII

Sam Sadie, US Marine Corps, WWII

Louis Gramesty, US Army, 8th Air Force, WWII

Elias T. Marrash, Auto-Ordnance Co., Thompson Submachine Guns, WWII

Elias Tamey, US Army, WWII

Operation Overlord-Epilogue

/ Richard L. Marrash / Leave a comment

For those who have previously read and commented on my D-Day posts, I offer my somber greeting on this annual memorial to the patriotic men and women of the “Greatest Generation”, those who served across the world in our armed forces as well as the civilians at home who stepped up to manufacture the war machines necessary for victory in World War Two. America was a nation united, not by ethnicity, religion, or political affiliation, but rather by a public culture of genuine belief in the worth and dignity of every human being and the liberal values embodied in our Constitution, laws, and social norms. And they possessed the willingness to make any sacrifice to preserve those values. For that, they willingly went abroad to fight and die to deter and defeat the tyrannical plague of Nazism and fascism that had spread across Europe and the Far East, and threatened to engulf the entire world in a vicious and racist authoritarian blight, cynically punishing freedom of thought and expression and individual liberty unhampered by any effective opposition. The latter had been eliminated through the mechanisms of propaganda based on dissemination and continuous repetition of lies, half-truths, disinformation, dehumanization of opponents, along with the weaponizing of social institutions: the churches, the judiciary, schools and universities, corporations, and the media. The goal of those measures is to create a public perception that sees what the authoritarian regime wants the public to see, substituting that false perception in the place of reality. And only that manufactured perception–no matter how bizarre or contrary to fact–is hailed as truth and truly patriotic. Anyone in opposition–no matter how soundly developed and grounded in fact their position–is deemed an enemy of the people. No criticism of the regime or the Fuehrer, the supreme leader, can be tolerated. By definition, what the leader deems good is good for the state. The leader is the state.

That is what the Greatest Generation fought to eliminate from the world: the tyranny of authoritarian government, the loss of liberty and freedom of expression, the assault on human dignity. That’s what the Founders worried about, by the way, and thought about long and hard, applying the grim lessons of European history to their deliberations. They devised a Constitution with safeguards against the unrestricted accumulation of power in the hands of an unaccountable government. They gave us a democratic republic, but they cautioned us to take care lest we lose it (Ben Franklin, 1787).

A true democracy can tolerate in its midst diversity of opinion and even that which it finds offensive. That’s what freedom of speech and assembly means. What a true democracy cannot tolerate is the insidious transformation of constitutional government and the rule of law into irrelevancies to be ignored or weapons to be deployed against critics.

Do you ever wonder if the Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves?

I won’t belabor the point any more. Memorial Day was one week ago, a day when we remembered the fallen from all of our wars. Today remember the generation of World War Two, who fought the ugly blight of totalitarianism and hateful racist policies that saw the murder of countless innocent people across Europe and Asia.

Remember the heroism of D-Day, 6 June 1944, the beginning of the end of the Second World War.

If interested, read my previous D-Day posts for other details.

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IN MEMORIAM (uncles, father-in-law, father):

George Marrash, US Army, WWII, DOW France, 1944

Tony Marrash, US Army, WWII

Sam Sadie, US Marine Corps, WWII

Louis Gramesty, US Army, 8th Air Force, WWII

Elias T. Marrash, Auto-Ordnance Co., Thompson Submachine Guns, WWII

Pearl Harbor Day

/ Richard L. Marrash / Leave a comment

It’s automatic. It’s visceral. Every December 7th, I remember, as do most Americans of my generation–born when World War Two swept in and seized America by the throat–that fateful Sunday morning in 1941 when the world burst into flames. No, I wasn’t there, but throughout my childhood in the 1940s, we learned at home, in school, in the neighborhood about the stealthy Japanese attack on our naval base in the Hawaiian Islands, that dreadful surprise that President Franklin D. Roosevelt called “… a day which will live in infamy.” On the radio, we heard the song, “Let’s Remember Pearl Harbor” again and again. And we followed the course of the war waiting for husbands, fathers, uncles, brothers, and friends to come home. Over the decades, the emotions surrounding the “sneak attack” and the sorrow over the losses have faded, but have not disappeared entirely. Few still remember, but mention December 7 to anyone over 70 and you are sure to get a knowing response, “Yes, Pearl Harbor Day.” They know the story.

I have always felt bound to commemorate this day, to honor the sacrifice of those who suffered its grim ordeal. It has symbolized for me the terrible destruction and death unleashed on a sleeping nation and the courage, faith, and resilience of the American people that led to ultimate victory over the aggression and brutal militarism of authoritarian powers across the world, not just in the Pacific.

I don’t think it is necessary to go beyond what I have mentioned here. This brief remembrance is enough, for me, at any rate. There are more details in one of my earlier posts, if you are interested.

Remember Pearl Harbor!