A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received. — Albert Einstein
Yesterday at a garden shop I saw an old friend… ”old” in that we’ve been pals for over 15 years, but he’s also now 85. Claude is remarkable in many ways.
For one, he recently had a stroke, yet there he was with his wife, shopping for plants. It may seem simple, but an elderly person buying plants is incredible: it shows a future-orientation, that one is still looking ahead. Other than leaning on the cart for stability, the stroke, blessedly, had left no other marks. Claude’s voice and reasoning were clear, and he said his memory was as excellent as ever. As the youngest in a large family, he grew up in poverty on one of the Native American reservations between Richmond and Williamsburg, and as a teenager, he borrowed five dollars and took a bus to Roanoke to live with an older brother in the 1950s, and he never left.
Even as an octogenarian, he still regrets his lack of formal education, since hardships caused him to leave school around seventh grade. Yet, Claude has made the most of himself, crediting a Jewish family in the Star City that took him under their wing and taught him much about life and success. “If I hadn’t been a Christian, I would have been Jewish,” he quipped. What he lacks in “book learning,” he more than makes up for with real-life experiences, as he has gradually amassed a number of rental properties, which helped him achieve a level of wealth most folks will never enjoy.
As we chatted about his insights about success, he looked me in the eye, held up an index finger, and intoned: “There are two words that make all the difference: ‘Thank you.’ They’re easy to say, and they don’t cost anything.”
Claude clearly has an attitude of gratitude, the spirit that helped lift him from poverty to significance.
The thought of thankfulness reminds me that May 8, 2025, is the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe (VE) Day. That is, on May 8, 1945, the broken remnants of Nazi Germany surrendered to the Allies (the US, USSR, Britain and Canada), thus ending the nightmare of WWII in Europe.
(The global conflict, however, did not end until three months later, after Japan finally surrendered in August.)
How much we owe that WWII generation! There’s a reason they are called “The Greatest Generation.”
As Einstein referenced in his above quotation, he was animated by a spirit of gratitude, mindful of what countless people before him had done to make his current life possible. That awareness, in turn, motivated him to give his all for the cause of humanity. Had Einstein not escaped Nazi Germany before the war started, he most likely would have been killed in the Holocaust, so that must have made the original VE Day especially meaningful for him.
It’s so easy to go through life taking things for granted; sadly, it’s part of the human condition. Still, if we take time to take stock and reflect on the blessings of liberty, we should realize we would have none of the freedoms we enjoy today, if the US had lost WWII and if the Axis Powers had prevailed. Freedoms of speech, religion, right to bear arms, a fair trial, a free press…none of this would have been saved had the West fallen to tyranny during the Second World War.
A bumper sticker quips:
If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you’re reading this in English and not German (or Japanese), thank a WWII soldier.
There are few WW II veterans left; those who remain are around 98 or older.
On this 80th VE Day, may we reflect gratitude for that generation who left home, faced dangers and death, and defended the cause of freedom. Moreover, may we dedicate ourselves anew to the cause of preserving liberty and resisting injustice in our own day and spheres.
How will you honor VE Day?
Go Deeper:
- Learn more about VE Day and its importance by reading this blog.
- Find out about the important role Bedford, Virginia, played in WWII.
There are countless excellent books about WWII, but three in particular are:
- The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw; this is not so much a military history but rather it looks at the daily lives of the normal men and women who helped bring about Victory.
- The Victors by Stephen Ambrose, which focuses on the role of normal GI’s from the planning of the D-Day liberation to the end of the war; the main focus is on training in Britain for the Normandy landings and then fighting in France, Belgium, and Germany.
- Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand, focuses on the remarkable life of Louis Zamperini. He grew up as a delinquent in California, but, aided by his older brother, later found his passion in running, which took him to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. During the war, he was a pilot in the Pacific theater, where his plane crashed and he endured unspeakable horrors at the hands of his sadistic Japanese captors. Almost miraculously, he survived the war, and later back home in California, he attended a revival held by a then-unknown preacher named Billy Graham, making the book an incredible story of redemption.
–Scott Dreyer