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Veterans Day

In Remembrance

Posted on November 10, 2014 Leave a Comment

Normandy“The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men.” -Plato

The town of Eindhoven, Holland has no special interest in the 4th of July. It does, however, celebrate each September 17th, greeting each other with the slogan “Remember September!” I know this because, before he died, my foster brother “Rusty” Quirici was annually invited to return to Holland.  He, and any surviving US Army buddies, were treated like royalty.  The reunion ceremonies included Dutch “old-timers” who survived the German invasion leading up to WW II. Their responses were often tearful and included comments like: “Thank you! Thank you GIs! You not only saved our lives, you freed us from the horrible oppression of the evil Hitler. Without your sacrifices, our children would be speaking German.”

They were not mistaken. WWII was the bloodiest war in world history resulting with between 60 and 80 million deaths. The little country of Holland lost over 300,000 people. The American military cemetery near St. Laurent, France has graves of 9,387 US soldiers and a list of 1,557 who are not accounted for. There are 13 additional American cemeteries on foreign soil containing 93,234 graves and 55,860 listed as missing or unaccounted for.  By the end of the war, 420,000 US soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, and Coast Guardsmen perished.

Rusty graduated from St. Helena High School in 1943 and did what thousands of young American men did, enlisted for military service. Hitler was leading the Germans on a rampage through Europe and he and his friends felt that they simply had no other choice. His choice, however, was sobering. He joined the US Army with the intention of volunteering for the 101st Airborne Paratrooper Division, also known as “The Screaming Eagles.”  He went through six weeks of boot camp, was assigned to “jump school” and six weeks later was sent to England. Preparations were being made for the US-Allied invasion of France, secretly known as “Operation Overlord,” which began on June 6, 1944 with the “D-Day” invasion.

The primary D-Day invasion, on the beaches of France, resulted in 10,000 casualties, including 2,500 American soldiers.  Shortly after D-Day, the 101st Airborne was assigned the treacherous task of being airlifted and dropped behind the German lines in Holland on September 17, 1944 as part of “Operation Market Garden”, a follow-on to D-Day.  His unit was assigned to destroy roads and bridges that would prevent a possible German retreat.  As they were clearing a German minefield along a key Dutch road, a German landmine exploded and killed all of his squad-mates. The explosion tore a large hole in his back, blew the lower half of one leg off and left him struggling for air.  Miraculously, medics were able to stop the bleeding in his back and leg, perform a field tracheotomy, which restored breathing, and connect with Dutch sympathizers who helped get him to a hospital in England.

When he returned home he was fitted with what would be one of several prosthetic legs, which allowed him to resume a nearly normal life.  In the late 1940s he became the first amputee to earn a private pilot license in California.  He found a career, married, fathered four children and lived a full rich life. We met at family reunions for over 50 years and I never heard him complain about his compromised life-style, but was quietly proud of the fact that the sacrifices he made helped alter the fate of Western civilization.

Every year, on November 11, I take time to pause, reflect and offer prayers of gratitude for all of the men and women who paid the ultimate price of “laying down their lives” to protect my freedom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HR6mj3Cexs

Lowell H. Young, Author: Biodesign Out For A Walk.

Posted in: Reflections | Tagged: Author Lowell Harrison Young, Biodesign Out For A Walk, my foster brother Rusty Quirici, remembrance of the fallen, Veterans Day, WWII

Veterans Day – John Phillip Sousa – Plato

Posted on November 9, 2014 Leave a Comment

Veterans Day“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” – Plato

For better and worse, this Fb page and the BOFAW Website have been like the proverbial cat; there have literally been several times when both could have died. Clearly, the only reason both are alive is because of the wisdom, guidance and inspiration that Fb friends have provided. Some of these have been public, but many have been private messages. When someone posts, or sends me an idea, it often sends me off on a wonderful treasure hunt.

I received the headline quote from a soul-friend and it provided an experience of intense joy and sorrow.

Joy

Plato’s quote took me back to The Biodesign Classroom where we began with biology and searched for truth, beauty and goodness. At the beginning of each class, students entered the room with some genre of music playing. I usually tried to play one John Phillip Sousa march each year. Typically, the students entered the room not knowing what to expect. Sousa did not disappoint. Regardless of individual moods, the energy level of the room soared. Faces radiated broad smiles and some picked up the rhythm and playfully “marched” to their place in the circle. Plato was spot on, describing music as a soulful experience.

After reading the private post, in a splendid synchronicity, I was guided to a Sousa Youtube video. It noted that he composed 136 marches, with “Stars and Stripes Forever,” being his favorite. Watching the video was profoundly moving—even tear-inducing. My six-year-old grandson was visiting and I called him up to my office to view the video. He was enthralled, excited, and wanted me to point out the trumpets because he wants to learn how to play.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-7XWhyvIpE

Sorrow

After he got off of my lap, however, a pall of sadness washed over me. Our society has changed drastically in the last 50 years. Fewer and fewer people remember the unfathomable sacrifices that “The Greatest Generation” of men and women made to protect our freedom. From the highest elected Washington DC officials down to small-town mayors, being patriotic has become politically inconvenient. An overwhelming number of high school and college educators are politically “left” and during my 50 years associated with education, I have seen the incremental removal of the word “patriotism” from public schools. Students with traditional values of God, Country and Apple Pie are frequently mocked, belittled or judged as “quaint” for expressing patriotic opinions or perspectives. Many so-called, “Liberal Universities” offer curricula and professors who are neither liberal nor universal in their thinking. They are certainly not dedicated to the platonic quest of exercising “the illimitable freedom of the human mind.”

Many high schools no longer have marching bands therefore students are missing out on the thrill of marching to a JP Sousa tune. Instead, many youth, especially inner-city kids, walk around listening to “ear buds” spewing rap lyrics laden with violence, pornography and smut.

In a bitter irony, in his “Republic” Plato warned:

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

Pretty scary stuff.

Maybe readers of this page can better appreciate the awesome privilege I was blessed with to have 700+ students touch my soul and essentially write Biodesign Out For A Walk.

Lowell H. Young, Author: Biodeisign Out For A Walk

Posted in: Reflections | Tagged: freedom of human mind, John Phillip Sousa, marching bands, Plato, Power of Music, The Stars and Stripes Forever, Veterans Day

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