When I was growing up, I heard stories about World War two and the Korean war. I heard about the great depression as well. I heard about the triumphs of the American people. I heard the pride, the respect and the honor for our ancestors in those stories. We said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning in the classroom, feeling privileged when we were chosen to hold that flag. We sang America the beautiful and said, God Bless America!

The history we were taught and celebrated was uplifting, it was about being free, being brave and working toward your dreams. The American dream! It is a far cry from what is being taught today and my heart aches with the thought of it. The truth being what history do the children today hear stories of?

Since the year 2000, the birth of the millennials, what has taken place? Start with 9/11. What do the kids hear about that today? Some people, did something. That’s what they are told. They hear about wars, that aren’t wars. Afghanistan, Irag, the gulf war, all combat operations, none a declared war. There is no victory! What are the kids taught? Veterans suffer from PTSD! Veterans are damaged people. They deserve sympathy and understanding, not medals and praise.

In politics Barack Obama was elected to the presidency. The first black president! Touted as a great milestone his presidency introduced The Affordable Care Act, a policy of failure. Obama was awarded the Nobel prize. It was awarded for “participating.” Read the citation, it is a participation award, he really accomplished nothing. Then we had Biden and now Trump. None of those men have exactly brought any prestige, any honor to the office. That’s what the kids hear today! I heard about FDR, Ike and JFK.

The I phone was introduced in 2007. A real game changer in technology. The kids today stare at those devices with an almost eerie fascination. That it has changed the social structure cannot be denied. I passed notes in class, that was social media. Today the kids rely on fact checkers and Goggle to settle an argument. They issue Tik-Tok challenges, I was double dog dared! Things were far more personal back then and handled personally.

I grew up with Timmy and Lassie, Father knows best, the Partridge family and Archie Bunker. There was no confusion regarding sex and gender. No one came to school telling the teacher what pronoun applied to whom. There were no “cats” in the classroom.

What history do the kids of today have to carry forward to their children? What stories do they hear? I’m afraid all they hear about are the errors of the past, the atrocities, the injustices and the failures. They hear about the “victims” and have become so used to that, they are adopting that! Where is the glory in that?

I was raised in a time when America was glorious; and proud of it. A world leader in every aspect of the word. A place you aspired to come to, to become an American! A respect for law and authority was instilled in us. A man’s word was indeed his bond! You didn’t rely on a legal team to defend your choices; you lived with the consequences of those choices.

Proud of our history and confident in our form of government, The Republic for which we stand! We did stand when that anthem was played, removed our hats and placed our hands over our hearts. A reverence and respect was shown; not for virtue, but for love of country!

We were taught the history of our nation. It wasn’t some people, did something! There was no shame in admitting to the past. The stories were told by the victors! We stated our intentions. We would “form a more perfect union.” Our government would be for the people, by the people.

A government that would continually evolve, improve and protect the people. The people of the United States of America! A government, that by necessity would exclude those not pledging allegiance to the same! Yes, back in a time when Nationalism wasn’t a bad word. “And to the Nation for which it stands”