Civilization's two big problems.

• Author: WIESNER, PAT
• Position: Terrorism and corruption - Brief Article

THE UNSPEAKABLE EVENTS AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTER REQUIRE US TO ASSESS OUR WORLD

ONE OF MY EARLIEST MEMORIES AS a youngster was of Pearl Harbor. I was 5, and I recall it because of the importance the adults around me attached to it. In the war years that followed I recall vividly the intensity and dedication of the big people in my life. I also remember:

AIR-RAID PRACTICE. It came with sirens, blackouts, drawn shades and air-raid wardens wandering the neighborhood telling folks to turn out whatever lights had been left on. I recall these drills being fairly frequent and serious.

FRUGALITY. Bond sales were big. Even as a first-grader I got the idea that my country was pressing itself to raise money to build tanks, guns and planes. We saved lard and bacon grease to make bullets; we saved tinfoil from cigarette wrappers to make ships; and we saved scrap iron to build tanks.

SECURITY. "Loose Lips Sink Ships!" was innocently yelled by all kids playing war. Even at 6, I was somehow aware that I shouldn't tell any stranger anything I might know

PAIN. Blue, gold and silver stars, sewn onto white, bordered squares, hanging in windows to tell the neighborhood (we already knew) about sons or daughters either presently serving, wounded or killed in action. I remember at about age 7 trying to understand the impact on one family who had three gold stars in their front window.

MORE PAIN. We had a girl about 10 who moved in next door who had spent a couple of years in a concentration camp in Poland. Her growth had been significantly stunted. She told me stories of how little her family had to eat, and how they had eaten rats and even snakes to live.

I was 9 when the war ended. I remember when we dropped the atom bomb and I remember the great joy in the victory parades when the enemy surrendered.

The feelings of that young boy (me) were that we were bigger, stronger and Smarter than our enemies. We were...