Maggie's Farm

We watched "The Sound of Music" on the telly over the weekend, and it brought back many memories to us of the run-up to the Second World War, when the Anschluss was a very real and brutal prelude to the American participation in the coming conflict. There were ugly promises in those months, presented by the Nazis, of the brutal realities that were to come -- Kristallnacht for one.

It's almost impossible for most young Americans who were not even alive then to realize how ominous things were then. I was brought up by a family which was dedicatedly pro-British for many generations, since we were Brit in background ourselves. We feared for the lives of our British brethren, and were stunned by the bravery of the small but valiant RAF, whose Spitfires and bombers were the thin line that protected the rest of the civilized Western world. This present generation has never been taught about their courage -- not in high school, where students no longer are taught world history, nor in college where such courses are no longer required.

The movie reminded us again of just how dangerous a war the Second World War was. It's worth revisiting, if you haven't seen it in awhile -- or ever.

Marianne