The good guys will win. The bad guys will lose. Truth, justice and honor will prevail. Evil will be vanquished.
You'd think we'd know that by now. It has been pounded into Americans in every John Wayne movie. It's the story line in every tale of national glory - John Paul Jones, Washington at Valley Forge, Lincoln's Gettysburg Address.
It's the founding principle of our nation. It's the mustard seed that blossoms like living sunshine in fields of faith, planted by Jesus in the New Testament "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." (John, 16 33)
Lately, though, wherever we look there seems to be a conspiracy of ugliness advancing like night inching over the landscape. In music, movies, on TV, in sports, politics - even in some of our churches, the army of moral apathy seems to be gaining ground.
We're told lying doesn't matter. Immorality is OK. Perversion is just a "lifestyle." Abortion is a "choice." Profanity is "cool." Be tolerant, they say. Don't discriminate between right and wrong, good and evil. And while good people do nothing, evil triumphs.
Does that sound apocalyptic? Too much like a sermon?
Then maybe we've forgotten our greatest triumphs over evil. Maybe we've forgotten the sacrifice, courage and honor that brought us victory. Just as we've forgotten the heroes who won us peace, prosperity and the luxury of such short memories.
They gathered again this year at the Blue Ash Veterans Day ceremony. Flags snapped crisp salutes to the flawless blue sky. There were more canes in the crowd. More gaps where proud Marines, sailors, G.I.'s and fliers stood at attention just a year ago.
"We've never missed it," said Erwin Winstel of Blue Ash, a Marine who fought in the Solomon Islands. He was talking about more than the ceremony. "Our whole family has always fought, all the way back to the Civil War."
His father fought in World War I. His son fought in Vietnam. When the nation calls again, a Winstel will probably answer. And less than 100 citizens came by to say thanks.
In the 1998 elections, less than half the registered voters voted. Only about half of all eligible voters are registered. That means many winners were chosen by only one-eighth of the Americans whose freedom was won by soldiers like Erwin Winstel.
Maybe we've forgotten the value of their sacrifice.
Army Master Sgt. Ralph Martin, 78, was there. He landed at Normandy. No, he hasn't seen the movie. Doesn't need to. Seeing D-Day once in person was enough. He's a man who exercises his American liberty to say what's on his mind. But I won't repeat what he thinks should be done to the president. The Secret Service might misunderstand.
"We need to increase our military and have more respect for it," he said.
Just 25 years ago, 77 percent of the members of Congress were veterans. Today, only 35 percent have worn a uniform. Our Secretary of Defense never served in the military. Our president lied to dodge the draft because he "loathed the military."
Before President Nixon abolished it, the draft was a democratic call to "national service." Men from every walk of life served their country, creating a reservoir of citizens who understood and respected the military.
That's dried up. Now we use the military like rent-a-cops in Bosnia and Haiti. Some enlisted men and women resort to Food Stamps to feed their children. Others get out as fast as they can, taking their expensive training to employers who appreciate its value. Maybe we've lost respect for the military.
And maybe we've lost our courage.
The nation that defeated Hitler and Japan, that endured frost-bite and torture in Korean POW camps, that survived flag-draped coffins from Vietnam and biological bombs in Iraq - now declares "war" on Joe Camel and agonizes over the deadly hazard of peanuts on airplanes.
Master Chief Petty Office John Sparks of Milford served 24 years in the Navy, including three tours of Vietnam. He sees other threats. "I'm a little worried about the acceptance of immorality, and what that teaches our young people," he said.
"But we can survive this, too," he added.
John Paul, 39, a Navy veteran who served in the Persian Gulf in the late 1970s, is teaching his children about the maturity and discipline he learned by serving his country. "I'm worried about the men and women who are being sent to Iraq right now, but I still have a lot of confidence in the people who run our military," he said.
The veterans who have given the rest of us the liberty to forget all these lessons have a message for America Have faith. We are a great nation because we are good, and good will triumph.
They deserve more than a rifle salute at 11 a.m. each Nov. 11. They deserve a message from all of us
Thank you.
Peter Bronson is editorial page editor of The Enquirer. If you have questions or comments, call 768-8301, or write to 312 Elm Street, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202.
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