Dr. Herbert Wilson, Bismarck
For many of us World War II veterans, the month of August is a most significant memory time.
We were on a real high in 1945, and many of us still like to relive those August days trying to recapture our high hopes for a New World, a world where there would forever be peace.
We know now how the world has turned, and turned, and turned in those 67 years ever since those bombs fell. We know how the atomic threat kept two super powers at bay, until one of them was forced to give in and yet today the nuclear threat could be greater than in the Cold War years. What is the reason? What is the solution?
Peace lovers the world over set a date this August to meet in Japan. It is at Hiroshima, to mark the anniversary of the dropping of those nuclear devices. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons is again meeting. Let's hope our media gives some attention to the deliberations. Let's hope our country can take a stand at this time ... a stand we can be proud of as the leading nation of the world.
And what do the other nations of the world think of us these day? I fear they think of our political campaigning as just one big joke. Why is it so hard to portray the better side of our leaders?
Perhaps with the entry of more and more women into politics our governing will improve. Let us think of voting for more women legislators, locally and nationally. Women have been proven to be more peace loving than men. Let us give them a chance. And, let us vote for the person, not for the political party.
Yes, as an old vet, I would like to see a return of some of the high hopes we once had back in 1945. And see more seriousness from our would-be leaders.