WWII Vet in Tears on 100th Birthday: 'Our Country's Going to Hell in a Handbasket'

Nick Kangadis | July 5, 2022
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When your society has changed to a degree that its “Greatest Generation” weeps at the thought of what it’s become, you might have some problems with said society.

Marine and World War II veteran Carl Dekel spoke to Fox 13- Tampa Bay last Thursday about his 100th birthday and the impact his and other World War II veterans’ service had on society until recently. Dekel is so discouraged about the direction of the U.S. and the lessons that have been all but forgotten since World War II that it brought the hero to tears.

Here’s part of what Mr. Dekel had to say (Note: Grab some tissues):

I sincerely believe in this old world that everything is beautiful. If I wake up in the morning and see these plants out here and all those flowers that are in there and the green grass on the ground, that’s beautiful. And people don’t realize what they have. They bitch about it. And then nowadays, I am so upset that the things we did and the things we fought for and the boys that died for it, it’s all going down the drain. Our country’s going to Hell in a handbasket. We haven’t got the country we had when I was raised, not at all. Nobody’ll have the fun I had. Nobody’ll have the opportunity I had. It’s just not the same. That’s not what our boys…that’s not what they died for.

Related: Michael Moore Says He Can't Enjoy the 'Privileges of Full US Citizenship' - But Says He's 'Not Leaving'

 

If you listen to and/or read the words of Mr. Dekel, I dare you not to feel something. If you don’t, check your pulse.

The absolutely heartbreaking part of all this, besides such a brave man being reduced to tears, is that he’s 100 percent correct. Forget the time he remembers so fondly for a moment. This country isn’t what it was just three years ago, nor what it was 10 to 30 years ago, let alone 70 or 80 years ago.

This is why the fight against extreme political ideologues of any persuasion need to be stood up to — if for no other reason than not to disappoint our elders and the things they fought for. But, we live in a supremely selfish society, so it’s easy to understand how that fight is easier said than done for most.

 

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