The Original "Captain America"

This will be a deep, allegorical, patriotic blog post, so get ready.  I think I need another cream soda before I start.

Today is Veterans Day.  I have 2 grandfathers and an uncle who served in WWII.  I have countless family members who served in WWI and the Civil War.  I saw a short, inspirational video on Facebook that I wanted to share with you.  This is a Veterans Day speech given by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 at Arlington Cemetery.  Take a minute to watch it before you continue. 

http://www.ijreview.com/2013/11/93548-ronald-reagans-inspirational-veterans-day-prayer/

My dad is a huge movie buff.  He particularly loves sci-fi, action movies, super heroes.  He's got a whole treasure trove of original movie props and costumes displayed in his basement.  Indiana Jones, Star Trek, Captain America, among others.  We often laugh at his obsession, but he might well be on to something.   

We grew up on Indiana Jones, Star Trek, all of those classics.  I can recite every line in every movie and I watch them all over and over and over again.  This apple doesn't fall too far from the tree.  I even wrote a thesis paper in grad school about the leadership skills of Captain James Tiberius Kirk.  Not kidding.

My dad is also what borders on a fanatical patriot.  But for all of his rantings and ravings, all of his "not very nice" letters to the editor every week, the man knows his history and he has strongly shaped my love for understanding it.   I appreciate the circumstances and the sacrifices of so many before me.   I share this with Owen (and Reece, to the extent that he can) through the NPS Junior Ranger Program because it MATTERS.  If you can't see the big picture, if you don't understand the things that have shaped the history of the world, if you don't understand what does make America different, you can't possibly ever appreciate the sacrifice of our fallen dead.

But I digress.  Friday night (the 8th) we went to see "Thor: The Dark World".  It was Owen's birthday and that is what he chose to do.  For whatever reason, I had yet to see the first "Thor", or "The Avengers", or "Captain America", or any of those prequels, so I was really kind of lost on the plot line.  Really, for me, the only redeeming scene in the new film was Chris Hemsworth shirtless (holy smokes, I need another cream soda)  lol 

HOWEVER, when we got home Friday night, I watched the first Thor on Netflix.  And then I watched it twice again on Sunday (well,
because Hemsworth goes shirtless in that one too).  And then Sunday night we watched "The Avengers" for the first time, and then it all made sense, you see, because you have to know the WHOLE STORY. 

By far, the Avengers had the best screen play.  The best acting. The best relationship building.  The best cameraderie.  We howled laughing in many scenes!  One film critic offered the perfect review: " All I can say is that Marvel have done it, The Avengers has managed to take all those

big super-hero personalities and put them together to deliver a grand, brazen and very witty movie.  The script is well written and each respective character has been left intact bringing in their personalities from their respective back-story movies and each one of the heroes manages to get their time in the spotlight and given room to shine. If you're a fan of superhero epic action adventure, then The Avengers will not fail you. This movie positively pulsates with excitement, wit and style!"

But for all of it's wit and far-fetched action, the basic premise was this:  the Earth is under attack by a group of heartless, greedy, dangerous beings and only a small group of folks with superhuman *conviction*and *honor* (and strength and skill) could save it.  "The Avengers. It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type thing." Loki: "Yes, I've met them."  Tony Stark / Iron Man: "Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one but, let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."

Now, let's look back on Veterans Day...that old fashioned "holiday", living in the past, remembering dead men from a time long gone......honoring them for their service, their conviction, their belief in a common cause of FREEDOM.   Dude, that was my grandfather!  I didn't have any family on the front lines in Germany, and thank God they all survived WWII.  But the atrocities, the horrors of war, are not lost on me.   I realize many of those men were drafted into service.  They did not all go with noble and fearless hearts.  Such is the way with most military conflicts.  But at the end of the day, good WILL triumph.  Those who are convicted in their hearts, those who share a common belief in the value of human life, those whose faith gives them the strength to persevere in the face of certain death.  We have to believe IN that to win.

But yet even today, I see so many in our country content in complacency.  I grew up in what I think was the BEST generation, the 80's....lots of big hair, parachute pants, day-glo leg warmers, blue eyeshadow.   FUN music.  But it was also a time of great fear during the Cold War.  I grew up hiding under school desks when they would sound the air-raid siren.  You see, when I was growing up, that "tornado warning" wasn't a tornado warning.  It was telling us the Russians were HERE.  Even at 12 years old, I recognized our President as a true leader.  When I complained that I was missing a TV program because of those State of the Union addresses, my parents were fearful for this country and the world their children may or may not grow up in.  But I could tell that Ronald Reagan loved this country, that everything he did, everything he believed, was out of faith, honor, and service.  He set the bar for my expectations of a President.   To me, he was the ORIGINAL "Captain America".   He had an agenda of goodness, of doing the right thing, of standing up to oppression.  He rejected those wielding power through subjugation.  (go back and watch "The Avengers"...cue the old man who stands up in the crowd against Loki)  Too many people in this country today have convinced themselves that it could never happen again.  It won't happen to us.  They remember the big hair and not the air-raid sirens.  Yet I see radical tyranny in our White House, killing this country from the inside out.  I see a man who wants this country to cease to exist.  I see our citizens being subjugated and

they don't even realize it!  I see a "president" voted into office, by people who aren't even citizens of this country, on promises of FREE.STUFF.  That VOTE is just as powerful as "Mjolnir", the hammer of Thor.  The power to destroy, but also the power to build.  That vote should not be given away like candy. 



RIP, Mr. President.  RIP, our fellow Americans who have given their "last full measure of devotion".  Thank you to all of our veterans who are still with us today.

Damn, I need another cream soda.