By Ray Cardello for November 13, 2025, Season 33 / Post 18

Veterans’ Day has been a day of conflict for me for many years. My Dad, and undoubtedly many of his friends and cousins, walked into a recruitment office and volunteered to serve their country to go to Europe or the South Pacific to fight the Germans or Japanese, who posed a threat to the free world and our way of life. My Dad went to the Philippines, while most of his kin went to Europe. Dad, like most of the Greatest Generation, never talked about those years overseas saving the world, but we know they had to carry the burden of memories no teenager should ever have to bear for the rest of their lives.

These young men, many of whom lied about their age to enlist, never gave their actions a second thought. Even as very young men, they knew their patriotic duty was to hit the pause button on their lives, pick up a rifle, and go to foreign lands to defeat the enemy. The lucky ones returned home to a country that welcomed them as heroes. They did their best to pick up their lives where they had left off, got jobs, got married, raised a family, and enjoyed the fruits of a country they had helped save. For many years, they had no reason to think their sacrifice and effort were worth it. America was booming, and patriotism was alive and well.

Dad, like most of the heroes of World War II, died many years ago, and for many of those years, I was glad he was not here to see what direction his America was now taking. The love of this once great country has cooled, and many of our younger generations have been conditioned to despise America as a country built on the stolen land of Native Americans and with the blood and sweat of slaves. Since we no longer teach history in public schools, except for Civil Rights and the Woke Evolution, our children only know what indoctrination coordinators, formerly known as teachers, choose to teach them.

When Dad was young, the Democrats were at the height of their popularity. The political landscape has changed dramatically, with the two Parties essentially swapping identities. That in itself would be difficult for the Greatest Generation to accept. Think about what they would feel about the Socialist movement. How would they handle New York City having a Socialist Mayor? About as well as a British Veteran seeing London, and all of its neighboring cities and towns under Socialist control. Dad and all the survivors of World War II watched as 21 million Allied soldiers died to prevent the spread of Communism, Fascism, and Socialism. This would make those deaths worthless.

Dad’s generation would have difficulty with the divide we experience in today’s America, the demise of family values, the rampant number of veterans who are homeless or taking their lives every Day, and the fact that Democrats see no need for borders and believe in one world before one America. They would not tolerate the sight of privileged youths protesting on campus while paying over half a million dollars for a useless education that will leave graduates without a job. They would undoubtedly have a problem with our drug problems, legalizing marijuana, and losing thousands of Americans in their prime to Fentanyl poisoning each year. They would hang their heads and wonder why they went off to war and left so many buried in foreign lands.

I was watching an interview with a British officer who served in World War II, and he pulled no punches. He was very clear that if he knew that Britain would be in the state it is today, there is no way he would have put on the uniform or put his life on the line to save her.

The children of the Greatest Generation have let down our heroes, and we owe them a profound and sincere apology. These men and women saved our future with their blood and lives. We have squandered it with our apathy and complacency. I am glad most of them are not around to see what we have done.