Subj: Fwd: great article
Date: 8/10/99 8:51:05 AM US Eastern Standard Time
From: stephen_terrio@hotmail.com (stephen terrio)
To: Susie1114@aol.com
Time Magazine prepared a list of the 10 most influential
people
of the century in each field to mark the end of the century.
The
10 most influential scientists, politicians, entertainers,
sports
figures, musicians, artists, and industrialists. This month
they
published the 10 most influential people (overall) of the
century.
They named "the American GI" the most influential person
of the
century. It is the only one that is not a single individual.
General Powell wrote the introduction to the award.
*************************************************************
As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I referred to the
men
and women of the armed forces as "G.I.s." It got me in trouble
with some of my colleagues at the time. Several years earlier,
the Army had officially excised the term as an unfavorable
characterization derived from the designation "government
issue."
Sailors and Marines wanted to be known as sailors and Marines.
Airmen, notwithstanding their origins as a rib of the Army,
wished
to be called simply airmen. Collectively, they were blandly
referred
to as "service members." I persisted in using G.I.s and found
I was
in good company. Newspapers and television shows used it
all the time.
The most famous and successful government education program
was known
as the G.I. Bill, and it still uses that title for a newer
generation
of veterans. When you added one of the most common boy's
names to it,
you got G.I. Joe, and the name of the most popular boy's
toy ever,
the G.I. Joe action figure. And let's not forget G.I.
Jane. G.I.
is a World War II term that two generations later continues
to conjure
up the warmest and proudest memories of a noble war that
pitted pure
good against pure evil and good triumphed.
The victors in that war were the American G.I.s, the Willies
and Joes,
the farmer from Iowa and the steelworker from Pittsburgh
who stepped
off a landing craft into the hell of Omaha Beach.
The G.I. was the wisecracking kid Marine from Brooklyn who
clawed his
way up a deadly hill on a Pacific island.
He was a black fighter pilot escorting white bomber pilots
over Italy
and Germany, proving that skin color had nothing to do with
skill or
courage.
He was a native Japanese-American infantryman released from
his own
country's concentration camp to join the fight. She was a
nurse
relieving the agony of a dying teenager.
He was a petty officer standing on the edge of a heaving
aircraft
carrier with two signal paddles in his hands, helping guide
a
dive-bomber pilot back onto the deck.
They were America. They reflected our diverse origins.
They were
the embodiment of the American spirit of courage and dedication.
They were truly a "people's army," going forth on a crusade
to save
democracy and freedom,to defeat tyrants, to save oppressed
peoples
and to make their families proud of them. They were the Private
Ryans, and they stood firm in the thin red line.
For most of those G.I.s, World War II was the adventure of
their
lifetime Nothing they would ever do in the future would match
their
experiences as the warriors of democracy, saving the
world from its
own insanity. You can still see them in every Fourth of July
color
guard, their gait faltering but ever proud.
Their forebears went by other names: doughboys, Yanks, buffalo
soldiers, Johnny Reb, Rough Riders. But "G.I." will be forever
lodged in the consciousness of our nation to apply to them
all.
The G.I. carried the value system of the American people.
The
G.I.s were the surest guarantee of America's commitment.
For more than 200 years, they answered the call to fight
the
nation's battles.
They never went forth as mercenaries on the road to conquest.
They went forth as reluctant warriors, as citizen soldiers.
They were as gentle in victory as they were vicious in battle.
I've had survivors of Nazi concentration camps tell me of
the joy
they experienced as the G.I.s liberated them: America had
arrived!
I've had a wealthy Japanese businessman come into my office
and
tell me what it was like for him as a child in 1945 to await
the
arrival of the dreaded American beasts, and instead meet
a smiling
G.I. who gave him a Hershey bar. In thanks, the businessman
was
donating a large sum of money to the USO. After thanking
him, I
gave him as a souvenir a Hershey bar I had autographed. He
took
it and began to cry.
The 20th century can be called many things, but it was most
certainly a century of war. The American G.I.s helped defeat
fascism and communism. They came home in triumph from the
ferocious battlefields of World Wars I and II. In Korea
and
Vietnam they fought just as bravely as any of their predecessors,
but no triumphant receptions awaited them at home. They soldiered
on through the twilight struggles of the cold war and showed
what
they were capable of in Desert Storm. The American people
took
them into their hearts again.
In this century hundreds of thousands of G.I.s died to bring
to
the beginning of the 21st century the victory of democracy
as the
ascendant political system on the face of the earth. The G.Is
were willing to travel far away and give their lives, if
necessary,
to secure the rights and freedoms of others. Only a nation
such as
ours, based on a firm moral foundation, could make such a
request
of its citizens. And the G.I.s wanted nothing more than to
get the
job done and then return home safely. All they asked for
in
repayment from those they freed was the opportunity to help
them
to become part of the world of democracy-and just enough
land to
bury their fallen comrades, beneath simple white crosses
and Stars
of David.
The volunteer G.I.s of today stand watch in Korea, the Persian
Gulf,
Europe and the dangerous terrain of the Balkans. We must
never see
them as mere hirelings, off in a corner of our society. They
are our
best,and we owe them our full support and our sincerest thanks.
As this century closes, we look back to identify the great
leaders
and personalities of the past 100 years. We do so in a world
still
troubled, but full of promise. That promise was gained by
the young
men and women of America most important people of the 20th
century
must stand, in singular who fought and died for freedom.
Near the
top of any listing of the honor,the American G.I.
***************************************************************
General Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs,
now
chairman of America's Promise