The most recent crisis in the Ukraine seems like one more in a series to most younger folks, but this one stirred up old, bad memories for me. I am mixed on the last two wars and thought Viet Nam was a mistake, but agree aggressions cannot go unchecked. But, direct confrontation with the Russians? My generation spent decades avoiding this, and for good reason.
After World War Two we entered a stalemate with our old ally and then the “cold war”. Nuclear armament actually meant we could not fight, so a long painful dance ensued. I lived 15 minutes from a base in Ft. Worth which was a top five Soviet target and we practiced “duck and cover” drills weekly. Of course, my lesson in reality occurred when I ask my Dad if this would work and he replied, thoughtfully, “son, we’d be in the impact crater”! My first lessons in the reality of nuclear war. We Boomers grew up fearing a Russian Armageddon.
I actually found myself in disagreement with my daughter this weekend, a true first, as we’d switched sides. I kept hearing the old song verse, “Give peace a chance”. I did not hear this when we invaded Afghanistan. As the cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead once wrote, our generation will be forever fearful of the “Bomb” and the Russians.
So, like everyone else, I’ll watch closely as this crisis unfolds; with the shirtless Putin posturing, leaving all of us in a quandary as to what to do. I’m aware we must do “something” to stop aggression against sovereign nations, but hope we don’t push these guys too far. I’m way too old to duck and cover!