tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251755.post116664155767613078..comments2023-08-10T02:35:48.311-07:00Comments on My Sandmen: What Did You Do When America Was Attacked? Part II…The Santini EffectMr.Atoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11531644043944267693noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251755.post-1166826904677373432006-12-22T14:35:00.000-08:002006-12-22T14:35:00.000-08:00My dad was a young Army officer for two years in t...My dad was a young Army officer for two years in the early 1960s. When I asked him why he joined the army, he just said it was "something you did." He never said much more about it - until I asked him recently.<BR/><BR/>Atos and I have grown up in an age when there was no draft. I registered for it, of course - my dad seemed to consider it a legal obligation AND an important rite of passage, so he made sure I got down to the post office on my birthday. In the context of a non-draft society, I found it even more curious that he "chose" to be an Army officer, and only served for two years since my friends were signing up for at least 4-year stints.<BR/><BR/>As he explained to me a few weeks ago, there was an glut of junior army officers during that period. Many college men decided to go ROTC rather than be drafted. I probably would have done the same.<BR/><BR/>From a personal standpoint, I'm sure his experiences there had a great effect on who he became - and as a result, who I am as well. But more importantly, I think there was, at that time, a general sense of obligation to serve one's country.<BR/><BR/>That sense of obligation came about as a result of first-hand experiences that the nation's existence actually COULD be threatened. We have not had such an experience in my lifetime. The closest we have come to it is in looking at "duck-and-cover" films of the 1950's. We now come to view anything associated with nuclear annihilation as either campy nostalgia or a concept so horrific that we either can't or won't wrap our minds around it, or both.<BR/><BR/>Now we face a real existential threat. In WWII we had coastal watches and internment of whole ethnic groups. A lone submarine launching a couple of shells at the mainland or a spy collecting intelligence about defensive infrastructure were dangerous, but manageable. But it will likely soon be possible that hundreds of thousands of American civilians will lose their lives in the blink of an eye. Yet we somehow refuse to accept that possibility. Is it, like the M.A.D. fears of yesteryear, so terrifying that our minds simply can't conceive of it, and therefore consider it impossible?<BR/><BR/>Never underestimate the power of motivation, especially if it is based in religion. People can change the world for the better through deeds of incredible sacrifice and love for the sake of their religion. They can also change the world for the worse through deeds of incredible hatred and destruction - for the sake of their religion. History is full of examples of both, and humanity shows no signs of eliminating its will to destroy.<BR/><BR/>I don't think I'm crazy when I believe that there are perhaps hundreds of thousands of people around the world that would be (literally) ecstatic over the murder of hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. I'm losing hope that I will be able to effectively change minds by communicating how dangerous a time it is in which we live. As a result, I fear we will all learn first-hand how fragile we are.<BR/><BR/>At any rate, Mike, thanks for sharing your story and that of the Great Santini.dueler88https://www.blogger.com/profile/15936047536305626931noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8251755.post-1166799770300134822006-12-22T07:02:00.000-08:002006-12-22T07:02:00.000-08:00Mike, Despite our own age difference, our mothers ...Mike, <BR/><BR/>Despite our own age difference, our mothers are probably of similar age. And my father too has long since passed. But, it was my mother that served, in many ways. She was our Santini of sorts, and perhaps there ought to be a book about her. Sadly, she never reads books, however. So, I cannot share with her those charms you share with yours. But, she has her recollections of a life spanning ages of change in just 73 years. If you ask her for instance, what she did in 1942 when the nation was uncertain of its future and its continued existence, she'll replies, "We got up before the sun, my 6 Sisters and I, and worked the fields. Then we walked 4 miles to school. Afterward, we came home and did our chores around the farm." On Sunday, they watered the wooden wheels of their truck, rubber beiing reserved for the War effort, and drove the five miles of dirt road to Church. In Winter, they were at times, sent to work as servants in houses in the City. There were no Men on that Farm. My Grandfather was blessed with daughters. And they served just the same, only in the duties that kept themselves and this Nation alive and Free... if only to exist. And that is afterall, the objective.<BR/><BR/>Years later, armed with an eighth grade education and 12 years of service to chaos and poverty, she took her four children and tried something else... to give them something better. And she did it. <BR/><BR/>She raised two great Men, and Two Great Women, who all have wonderful children. That was her service to us and to her nation. And if you ask her today about her life, she'd reply, "I get up everyday and do what needs to be done." She was no doubt, our Great Santini.<BR/><BR/>As for me. What did I do when America was attacked. Up unusually early for a Tuesday in Seattle, I watched every single moment of it. I woke my wife and we talked about it. Then I got dressed and went to work in an office tower downtown. There I remained doing my duty until we were evacuated at 1pm... told be Civil authorities to go home, just in case.<BR/><BR/>Whatever it is we do in the course of our duty now, we simply must do what needs to be done... and do it well. And as you said, in the end, be proud of it.<BR/><BR/>Well said, Mike!Mr.Atoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11531644043944267693noreply@blogger.com