Integrity Is Lost

Sorry for the long hiatus. I just buried my grandfather three weeks ago. In that time I have done a lot of thinking. And recent events in the news have only pushed me further to dementia. Although I can't say that my grandfather and I were neccessarily close, we were family. I loved him, and respected him. But now that he is gone, the world is void of something that I wonder will ever be seen, integrity.

My grandfather's generation had it, almost oozing it from every part of their body. He was a World War II veteran. But he never told me. When asked what he did in the military, he said he was a cook. He war correct, but much too modest. While going through some of his most private of papers, we fould his military records, he did more than just cook. He was actually on Iwo Jima when that famous statue of the American soldiers raising the flag on that Japanese island. He fought his way to that point.

My dad told a story while sitting around that his father had told him just a few months ago. He was fighting somewhere in the pacific, and had found himself trapped in a hole with a few other soldiers. My dad asked if he had a gun, my grandpa said "No". When asked why he simply remarked, "I guess it wasn't very organized". He never cussed the government, he always paid his taxes, and he never asked for anything in return. He was even shot and lost a small portion of one finger during the war. Yet he never turned it in, never recieved a purple heart. When my dad asked why, again he responded with such integrity, "I saw boys lose limbs and life, a finger was nothing."

The reason I bring this up now, is because I realized something on his funeral. There are very few people left in this world with integrity. That generation had it. My parent's generation threw it away. And my generation doesn't understand what it is. John Kerry "supposedly" suffered self-inflicted wounds to get out of the military, to recieve his three purple hearts, whereas people like my grandpa refused to take that honor.

People like Cindy Sheehan have made a mockery out of grieving parents. She has turned her grief into a circus, and the media have soaked up every minute of it. More people died in the first hour at the beach in Normandy then have died in over two years in Iraq. Where is her integrity to grieve responsibly? Her own family are embarrassed of her actions. They understand her plight, but they don't understand her actions. Mrs. Sheehan has done nothing for her cause and for herself except be used for the far left in this country. And although I understand her pain and suffering, I don't understand her ideas.

The truth is, our entire society is without integrity. We never take responsibility for our actions, it is always somebody else's fault. It goes from our politicians to our teachers, our garbage collectors to our bankers. Enron, Bill Clinton, the Hollywood liberals, and even George W. Bush have all passed on integrity. Although these are all varying degrees, they all repesent what I mean in their own fashion.

What I challenge to any and all that read this post, is that from this day forward, you strive to add a little integrity to your life. Take responsibility for yourself, your parents are not to blame, you don't need a pat on the back every five muntues, you can do what you put your mind to, and for God's sake do what you say you will do. Prescibe to the idea that you have two things on this earth of value; your name and your word. Do all in power to protect them both.

I love you grandpa, you make me strive to be more than I am.