Wednesday, November 7, 2001
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Wednesday, November 7, 2001 |
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In war against terror, fear is contagious, but so is courage Not since the 1860s has the civilian population of the United States been subjected to the horrors of war. Even during World War II, while civilians in most of the rest of the world were being killed by the thousands, the civilians in this country lived without fear of attack. Their knowledge of the war came via "Life" magazine and movie news reels. This is exactly what we, who were doing the fighting, wanted for our families back home. Sept. 11, 2001, changed this. The civilian population of the United States was attacked by a group of evil, pseudo-religious fanatics. Their goal is to create such fear in our ranks that we will adopt a "bunker mentality," that is, we will cease to do the things that give us pleasure and the things that keep our economy moving. They hope to drive us into economic depression and chaos. We cannot allow this to happen. In previous wars we have sent our young men and women away to fight to protect our way of life. We expected them to accomplish their missions with unyielding determination and courage in spite of their fears. They never disappointed us. Now that we civilians are soldiers in this new type of war, should we not face our enemy with the same unyielding determination and courage? Fear is contagious. It leads to panic which invariably leads to defeat. Courage is also contagious. So what we need to do, indeed must do, is to hold up our heads, stiffen our resolve, recognize that some of us will die and set an example for our families, our neighbors and for the rest of the world. Our enemy thinks that we are soft and will not endure hardship and death in order to preserve this most wonderful of all countries. I remind you and them that this is what Hitler and Tojo thought. Joe B. Maloy Peachtree City [Maloy is a World War II veteran who served in the U.S. 8th Air Force in missions over Nazi-held Europe and was a prisoner of war in the infamous Stalag 17.]
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