"This land was your land, this land was my land…"

Wall of the Missing - ABMC Cemetery, Cambridge, England

Woody Guthrie would roll over in his grave if he could see his endless skyway and golden valley today.  Guthrie was an idealist who influenced a pivotal generation in America.  He died in 1967, at what some might consider the beginning of the New Depression.  Raised during the Great Depression of the Thirties, Guthrie reacted to economic and political crises in his popular Folk Music.   By contrast, the Depression that has overwhelmed America since then is one of spirit.  With few exceptions, the trauma of the 1960s has divided and scarred American society in ways too momentous to recount.  The roller coaster of economic prosperity these past 50 years is easily tracked on charts and graphs, but less measurable and certainly more insidious is the steady degradation of the ideals that Americans shared during World War II— ideals and initiatives that led to America becoming the pre-eminent world power that we precariously enjoy to this day.

The pace of life in the 21st century is governed by the technology explosion, but society is not as readily adaptable to change as technology is.  The way people lived and coped with life 50 years ago was far different than it is today.  That's not because the problems faced then were any more, nor less, pressing.  It seems that the prevailing attitudes, about many things, were different and that there was indeed a prevailing attitude.   Not least of the many changes has been our national unity of belief.  During WWII, Americans shared a common purpose and resolve. Today, the country is split almost equally between two diametrically opposed views.  The old jokes about gridlock in Washington are no longer funny.  Gridlock has become a way of life and more people than ever in America lack faith in almost every facet of their existence.  For most, it is enough to simply make it through the day.  One of the real tragedies of this New Depression is that we have abandoned the traditions and social institutions that made America great.   Government is rarely viewed these days as a friend, much less a protector.   Industry and labor are seldom rewarded and entitlement has replaced ambition.

In our post "sixties" zeal for political correctness, we have gradually whittled away the foundations upon which this nation was built.  One of the many examples lies before us today.  As we prepare to celebrate "Memorial Day" it would be hard to find any unity of view on what the day even represents.  The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs well knows that "Memorial Day is a day of remembering the men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces."  Not veterans who served in war, or peace, but those who "died" serving.   This day of remembrance originated after the Civil War, when 600,000 died, and was called "Decoration Day" until 1882.  For more than a century, Americans made visits on this day to decorate the graves of those fallen warriors, with flags and flowers, to single them out for their gallantry and devotion.  All other veterans are honored on "Veterans Day" in November. 

This day of remembrance was initially established as May 30th, but Congress changed the date in 1971 to the last Monday in May in order to create an annual three-day weekend.  The Veterans of Foreign Wars still oppose this change, arguing that it undermines the very meaning of the day and pointing to the consequent nonchalance of the public about observing traditional ceremonies.  It would be hard to argue that Memorial Day means the same thing to Americans today as it did in 1945.  The three-day weekend is now the most anticipated aspect and is punctuated by auto racing and golf events in addition to a plethora of holiday shopper sales—more like May Day.   The visitation of graves and placing of flowers is still fairly common, but even that has become a generic family activity for many—associated with remembrance of all who have died, not just those who died in service to their country.   While the remembrance of ancestors is an important family activity, the fact that it merges so indiscriminately with Memorial Day is another reason for the vanishing significance of this particular day.

On this Memorial Day, I personally will be honored to pay my respects to those fallen members of the 416th Bomb Group who, like Bill Cramsie, died between 1943 and 1945 in service to our country.  They were among the best of America's youth and they left us a tremendous gift.  We should take this occasion to rededicate ourselves to making a difference in the future of this country so that it will continue to be "my land and your land" and will lead the free world by example as those before us so admirably did.  It is our duty and our privilege to preserve, protect and nurture their legacy.

And the wheel goes round and round

I woke up this morning at 9:00 AM when the cell phone rang six inches from my ear and Ghazi jumped over top of me landing on the floor with a thud.  It's not that I'm an especially late sleeper, but somehow the curtain of bliss had blessed me with an extra couple hours.  Ghazi, a young and aptly named Black Lab / Border Collie mix, wasted no time heading for the front door as dogs are prone to do.  That caught the eye of Pasha, our 16-year-old Portuguese Water Dog who is hard of hearing, sees poorly and barks loudly when reminded that the world is still turning.   I expected the call to be from my wife Doris, who is on her way back home from a family emergency in Arkansas.  Instead, it was someone else near and dear to my heart—the IRS.  The potential for bliss to turn on a dime into chaos was definitely there.  Maybe it was just the startled awakening, but I thought I heard a deep soothing voice saying "It is not your time". The call was from my IRS advocate.  Yes, I am awake now and yes I do have an advocate at the IRS.  Never heard of such a thing?  Neither had I until I was assigned one.  Ironically, the U.S. Government employs a corps of agents to advocate for citizens who have found the IRS to be overly complex or unresponsive.  I don't know how many of these advocates are on the payroll, but I do know that they are well schooled in the nuances of bureaucracy—and dealing with the public. 

Seven years ago,  Doris and I were introduced to (and embraced by) the remarkable extended family of the 416th Bomb Group.  The veterans of this WWII combat unit have held annual reunions in one form or another virtually since the war ended.  We hosted a couple of these reunions at Branson, Missouri and will host the 2013 reunion in Gainesville, Missouri this coming October.  At one of the Branson reunions the topic of historical preservation came up.  There really was not any active repository for the treasured memories and memorabilia of these veterans.  The issue had become pressing due to the fact that many of those veterans had passed on and their spouses sometimes were faced with difficult choices about disposing of photos, documents, letters, diaries, etc.  As an interim measure, we agreed to store any of these objects that families were not prepared to retain themselves.  

Not too long after that, the local "City Hall" in Gainesville was listed for sale when the city government moved into larger quarters.  The old facility was built from hand-cut limestone in 1935 in the style of many WPA buildings of that era.  Doris and I purchased the building and began an extensive remodel and restoration.  Although privately owned, this building soon became the home of the 416th Bomb Group Archive.  The Archive has been registered with the State of Missouri as a non-profit corporation with a Board of Directors and survivorship provisions.  In October of 2012, the Archive filed an application form (and $400 fee) for 501c3 tax exempt status with the Internal Revenue Service.  The form instructions optimistically tell the filer to call the IRS if a response is not received within 30 days.  The time passed and the call was made.  The IRS agent contacted was polite but seemingly unconcerned.  He stated that the application was being held up because more information was needed.  When asked what information was required, he could not provide that information.  When asked who could provide that information, he stated that the application had been assigned to "someone" who would contact us in this matter.  The winter came and went and the IRS remained silent. 

After several months had passed, we appealed to Senator Blunt's office for assistance in resolving the issue with IRS.  It was because of this appeal to the Senator that the IRS assigned an Advocate to us.  Since this application is really a formality, and there is no significant monetary impact on the U.S. revenue system, one would think that it would be less expensive to find the paperwork and approve it than to hire an advocate and perpetuate the paper trail with added human resources and further delays.   Instead, the advocate asked that we provide essentially the same justification that we did in the initial application as well as income/expense statements and impact statements—which we did.  The purpose of the call from our advocate this morning was to advise that our information had been received and would be forwarded to the IRS department responsible, but that "Expedited" action by the IRS was not likely.  Say What?  The U.S. government has been sitting on this application for seven months and it would take "Expedited" action to approve it?  My blood pressure was beginning to rise, but the disarming nature of the Advocate diffused what could easily have become a melt-down (not that a melt-down would have done any good).

The whole point of requesting 501c3 status is to facilitate federal tax deductions for donations made to the Archive.  Since the Archive pays no rent, has no paid employees, no compensation for directors and no expense accounts for managers, there can be little confusion about where the income from donations goes.  It is used entirely for operational support.  The Archive website at http://416th.com is one of the most comprehensive resources and valuable online research tools of any WWII combat unit.  The Archive Facebook page has drawn together 416th family and friends from across the country and even from England and Europe.  The Archive video taping program has preserved more than 50 hours of interviews with 416th veterans.  The black granite Wall of Honor at the Archive has some sixty names of veterans already engraved and more to come.  The Archive digital and original copy files already include tens of thousands of pages of directly related historical documents and new accessions are constantly adding to that resource.

When will the IRS see fit to approve the 416th Bomb Group Application?  That's a question for the ages.  Rest assured it will not be this week as everyone is on holiday celebrating the contributions of these same veterans.   It reminds me of the old folk song about the "Man who never returned".  Meanwhile, the uncertainty does little to encourage growth and the window for capturing memories of these WWII veterans is rapidly closing.  Fortunately, we have an advocate on our side.  What might the situation be without this government generosity?

Have to run now, the dogs are at the door barking to get back in.

The Clock of Life

The following text, the author of which is unfortunately lost in an endless loop of email forwards, is to me a powerful message about life and purpose.  I hope readers of this blog will agree and that anyone who knows the source will add it in a comment below:


STORY NUMBER ONE

    Many years ago, Al Capone virtually owned Chicago . Capone wasn't famous for anything heroic. He was notorious for enmeshing the windy city in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder.  Capone had a lawyer nicknamed "Easy Eddie." He was Capone's lawyer for a good reason. Eddie was very good! In fact, Eddie's skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time.

     To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big, but Eddie got special dividends, as well.. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago City block.  Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him.  Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his young son had clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld.  Price was no object.  And, despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong.  Eddie wanted his son to be a better man than he was.  Yet, with all his  wealth and influence, there were two things he couldn't give his son; he couldn't pass on a good name or a good example.

      One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Easy Eddie wanted to rectify wrongs he had done.  He decided he would go to the authorities and tell the truth about Al "Scarface" Capone, clean up his tarnished name, and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this, he would have to testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. But, he testified.  Within the year, Easy Eddie's life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a  lonely Chicago Street.  But in his eyes, he had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer, at the greatest price he could ever pay Police removed from his pockets a rosary, a crucifix, a religious medallion, and a poem clipped from a magazine.

      The poem read:

"The clock of life is wound but once, and no man has the power to tell just when the hands will stop, at late or early hour.  Now is the only time you own. Live, love, toil with a will. Place no faith in time. For the clock may soon be still."

  
STORY NUMBER TWO


      World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lieutenant Commander Butch O'Hare.  He was a fighter pilot assigned to the aircraft carrier Lexington in the South Pacific.  One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank.  He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his  ship.  His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet.

     As he was returning to the mother ship, he saw something that turned his blood cold; a squadron of Japanese aircraft was speeding its way toward the American fleet.  The American fighters were gone on a sortie, and the fleet was all but defenseless. He couldn't reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing to do. He must somehow divert them from the  fleet.  Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dove into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber's blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch wove in and out of the now broken formation and fired at as many planes as possible until all his ammunition was finally spent.

     Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to  clip a wing or tail in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible, rendering them unfit to fly.  Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off in another  direction.  Deeply relieved, Butch O'Hare and his tattered fighter limped back to the carrier.  Upon arrival, he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the gun-camera mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch's daring attempt to protect his fleet.  He had, in fact, destroyed five enemy aircraft.

   This took place on February 20, 1942 , and for that action Butch became the Navy's first Ace of W.W.II, and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor.  A year later Butch was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would  not allow the memory of this WW II hero to fade, and today, O'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man. So, the next time you find yourself at O'Hare International, give some thought to visiting Butch's memorial displaying his statue and his Medal of Honor. It's located between Terminals 1 and 2.

      SO WHAT DO THESE TWO STORIES HAVE TO DO WITH EACH OTHER?

      Butch O'Hare was "Easy Eddie's" son.


Postscript:  Snopes.com confirms much of the above as fact and rejects some details as apocryphal.  Whatever the actual facts may be, the story is clearly inspirational and compelling as testimony to human experience on a broad scale and its message has considerable value - WGS