Current events and memories of another time, another war

I was a senior in high school. A lot of my friends were being taken out of high school to be drafted in the service when they turned 18, but they hadn't even graduated. Some of our teachers had been talking about current events, but sitting in class it had no meaning to me. Then came March 23, my 18th birthday, and it happened to me. My teachers' warnings took on new meaning. I was living right in the middle of them.

What was I remembering? The Jews were being persecuted, but I'm not a Jew. Hitler was forming a youth army, but it wasn't the one I was in. Money was being printed at a speedy rate, and inflation was becoming rampant, but my dollar was still good.

The fuehrer was a charming, charismatic personality, persuading a mind-set that matched his own. We are a master race! Do away with the undesirable. Invade and conquer the surrounding countries. Take over the banks. Take homes and give them to the more desirable.

Germany had the Gestapo, and it followed its leaders to their death. We have czars, and where are they leading us?

It was working for Germany, but then came the U.S. The troops were taking a beating along with their allies: The war in England. The landing at Normandy. The push for Germany. The Battle of the Bulge, where I was in a foxhole with the dead, where I was cold and hungry.

I was in five major battles where I was injured twice. I thank the good Lord that I finally got home.

Some of my remembering compares to current events. Some are too frightening to even think about. But when it plays out, as it is doing today, and I compare current events, I think of my teachers and their wise counsel.

I fear for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Come to think about it, I fear the direction our country is now traveling.

We who fought in the preceding wars are not old and dying out, but we still stand proud when the flag goes by. We still remember to stand straight and whisper, "God, please continue to bless America."

Ed Kaiser is a Cape Girardeau resident.