A Patriot Remembers

from Capital District Senior Spotlight - May 2020

Yesterday’s Flu

Sacrifice - Now and Then

Frank DeSorbo D on’t think the title means sacrifice is a now and then thing. Sacrifice was key some 80 years ago when the world was at war. The million of stories of the veterans, families and friends are seldom spoke of today. I remember hearing such stories when I sponsored the first D-Day Recognition & Remembrance Day in 2011.

There was Harold Williams, an Army Veteran of the 1st Army. He was at Normandy on June 6, 1944. He shared with me, on more than one occasion, of how he was a forward observer with Lt. Colonel Bennett. When they moved deeper into Germany, they came upon a married couple. The husband asked Bennett who they were. He responded “Americans.” The man then asked where are the troops and Bennett advised they were “behind us.” The man asked if they were staying and Bennett assured him “we were.” The man said “can you wait here while I go in the house?” The man brought out two young children aged maybe 10 to 12 years old said said they have not been outside in four years. “You see I am German and these two are Jewish.”

Those two parents knew sacrifice and Bennett and Williams were two proud American that day.

Today, we are asked to sacrifice and stay inside for four to eight weeks, or maybe the plight may exist longer. People are doing things they may not normally do to ward off the spread of novel coronavirus. My reaction when COVID-19 became prevalent, I recalled some folk songs from my teenage record collection. One such song was a hit by the Kingston Trio entitled “Desert Pete.” I know the chorus by heart and many times it had inspired me to sacrifice:

You’ve got to prime the pump, you must have faith and believe

You’ve got to give of yourself fore you’re worthy to receive

Drink all the water you can hold, was your face, cool your feet

Leave the bottle full for other, Thank You Kindly, Desert Pete.

Thank you so deeply to nurses, doctors, police and first responders, as well as the medical and volunteers working so hard to “leave the bottle full for others.” Thanks for your sacrifice for the world will not forget you and you are our Proud Americans. We must believe that the United States will do again for the world what we did in the 1940s.

Please realize that sacrifices are not a now and then thing. Remember and recognize that sacrifices are truly deep rooted in our hearts.