Uncle Kenny Written shortly after September 11, 2001 There was an empty desk in the classroom of Scotland High School, Scotland, Indiana, graduating class of 1945, in the fall of 1944. This was the desk of Kenneth Asdell, who, with his father’s permission, forewent his senior year high school and joined the U.S. Navy at age 17 to join thousands of other young Americans in the fight against Japan. Kenny, along with many other young Americans, wouldn’t be going to the prom dance, wouldn’t be playing basketball, wouldn’t be going to the movie theater. He would be spending his senior year on a warship in the Atlantic Ocean, defending the freedom of his classmates and all Americans. Fast forward to 1990, beginning of the Gulf War against Iraq, the same Kenny Asdell, 46 years older, retired from a career as an Ironworker including a stint on the Alaskan pipeline, paid a visit to an Army recruiting office in Bloomington, Indiana, offering his services in the reconstruction of Kuwait. He told the recruiter that he had a lifetime of experience rigging and working with iron. That he had been a “wildcat” oil driller and knew there would be a lot of needed work on damaged oil wells in Kuwait and he was offering his services “free of charge”, all he needed was transportation. That patriotic spirit that compelled him to forego his senior year of high school to join the fight in World War II, compelled him to offer his services to his country once again. I guess this display of patriotism was made even more pronounced due to Kenny’s birth date, July 4th. Kenny Asdell is one of what Tom Brokaw has coined “the greatest generation”. His patriotism is not the exception, but rather the norm for this group of Americans. The question has been asked may times, what if the same situation (as the Japanese attack) were to occur again? Would the present generation display the same courage? Selflessness? Patriotism? Many people are not certain. Well, the situation has occurred again, in New York and Washington D.C. I am convinced that this generation will respond with the same degree of courage. Same selflessness. Same patriotism and same resolve as our fathers and grandfathers did on December 7, 1941. We are descendants of these extraordinary individuals. We share the same genetic make-up. The same DNA. The same blood flows through our veins. We share the same love of country and fellow citizens as our ancestors do. We will rise to the occasion and respond to the call. The American spirit is still strong and very much alive!
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 19:19:42 +0000
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