The Recalcitrance of American Myth
I don’t recall having come across this quote, from World War II veteran Henry Fonda in a 1972 television commercial opposing the Vietnam War, before this afternoon:
When I was a kid, I used to be really proud of this country. I thought that this was a country that cared about people, no matter who they were or where they came from. But now, when I see my country engaged in an endless war, a pushbutton war in which American pilots and electronic technicians are killing thousands of Asians, without even seeing who they kill … when I see us each week stepping up the tonnage of bombs dropped on Indochina … then I don’t feel so proud any more. Because I thought that was what bad countries did … not my country.
Today is, of course, the 64th anniversary of a certain pre-Vietnam event that fits Fonda’s description rather well. I wrote late last year about the dangers of forgetfulness.
Filed under: war
While respecting your point of view, I’m mindful of another quote from a WWII veteran.
“Understanding the past requires pretending that you don’t know the present. It requires feeling its own pressure on your pulses without any ex post facto illumination.” Paul Fussell “Thank God for the Atom Bomb.”
Fussell is a distinguished professor and author. He is also a former infantry Lieutenant in the European Theater who was waiting to be killed in the upcoming invasion of the Japanese home islands when the A-bomb ended the war.