Are we teaching the real history of America?

Are the children today being taught the realities of WWII or are they too sensitive for the realism of our history?  I was just a lad during the 2^nd World War but it truly had an effect on my upbringing.  My older brother Walter joined the Navy at 17 prior to graduating high school in 1943, he had tried to join the Marines at 16 but they caught him and sent him home. Walter ended up in the South Pacific in the Submarine Service, my Uncle Cliff joined the Sea Bee’s and helped build the airport that the B29’s used to bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  My uncle Bob was in the Army in Italy and fought all the way to Germany. The Larson boy’s neighbors of ours joined the Marines one died at Iwo and the other died at Guadalcanal.  These are just a few of the youngsters that went straight from high school into Hell.  These were different times the world had just come out of the Great Depression to find that the world had created a bigger problem called Hitler and the Nazi’s who were over running Europe with an oppressive regime with little regard for humanity.  At the time the biggest thing on these kids minds was just graduating from high school and impressing the local girls with their athletic prowess.  At the same time America suffered a devastating blow as the Japanese brought the war home with the bombing of Pearl Harbor.  America at the time was really a 2^nd generation country as most of the population had migrated from Europe in the early 20^th Century.  People were proud of their newly acquired citizenship and it showed in their patriotism as they filled the recruiting stations.  War is about as evil a thing as the world could think up and these kids volunteered knowing the danger they faced.

There were heroes in many places as the women of America took on the jobs left by their men.  Everything from sugar to gasoline was being sent to the front for the troops and rationed here at home. Everyone learned to sacrifice.  Families sat by the radio every night to hear the latest news on the war front not having any idea where their loved ones were.  It wasn’t until after the war that the brutality of the combat was comprehended. Many times the men fought days on end without sleep or a break in the action, with death all around them and the deafening noise of the battle fighting not only the enemy  but the weather a constant reminder of their situation.  Everyone knew someone who died in this brutal war and knew many who came home wounded in both body and spirit.  Men went to sea knowing how many ships had been sunk by U Boats & Japanese I boats with all aboard lost.  The stories of bravery and heroism came from all fronts and all branches of service.  Few today could match the tenacity of the men and women of the Greatest Generation.  

 Less than 5 years after the war a new war brought back the fears and terror back to their generation. North Korea had invaded South Korea a country who we had guaranteed to protect in the South East Asia Treaty.  Once again one of my brothers was off to war, a war unlike the previous one where we fought for the very existence of civilization, this was more of a political war fought with boundary’s and restrictive Rules of Engagement.  The men who fought in WWII soon learned that the American military objective had changed and was not at war to win but to hold the enemy.  Our troops and Generals of WWII were dismayed at this lack of enthusiasm for winning by the politicians who were dictating the terms of war and soon were replaced with a new generation of military leaders.  Korea to this day remains a hostile and explosive place.  Maybe our old generals were right to be upset, we seem to now have a philosophy to restrict our military which has cost many lives in the years since WWII.  Korea no gain, Viet Nam no gain, Gulf War back to neutral, Afghanistan and Iraq, brave troops with no backing to win from the political establishment. In each of these wars we have lost thousands of our youth without giving them the opportunity to win. War is truly Hell but to be put in a battle without a winning agenda seems more criminal than Hell.  

It seems we have lost or are losing some of the desire for our freedoms that were so prevalent in the last generation perhaps the fact that many of them had just finally gained those freedoms here in America was the reason.  Have we weakened our future generations by making things too easy for them?  Have we coddled away America’s future?  I know there are many brave lad's and lasses fighting now but with out a political class that has the desire to win we just seem to be in a holding position, let our military do their job it's what they have trained for and they are extremely capable of winning if allowed to do so.  God Bless America and God be with our Heroes at war.