Celebrating Reagan: Restoring America's Pride

Restoring American Pride

President and Mrs. Reagan standing under the guns of the battleship U.S.S. Iowa during the Statue of Liberty Centennial weekend celebrations. 7/4/86.

(All photos in this post from the :Reagan Library) Larger image here.

There is just no question that President Reagan honored and respected the men and women of this country who are called to serve in our armed forces. There's also no question that nearly every one of them who served before and after his presidency felt the same way about him. We've already touched on this theme in the excerpts from the reflections of Grizzly Mama and American Crusader in the post below.

Why such devotion to and from a man that few would ever know?

Do You Remember Before?

If you were alive and conscious of national issues during the Reagan presidency, you will recall that this restoration of our military, our pride and our confidence were key to us moving forward as a nation; putting the anxiousness and self-doubt of the post-Vietnam period behind us and readying ourselves to make this world, safer, more peaceful and free.

This was no easy task when you consider the international political landscape as President Reagan entered office. The Soviet Union had invaded Afghanistan, Cuban troops were in Angola , Central America was rife with communist movements and dictatorships of every stripe. And over all of this hung the fear of a nuclear war with the Soviet Union.

In an address to the British Parliament in June 8, 1982, President Reagan dared to call evil by it's name. He outlined a program where the power of freedom, expressed by democratically elected governments would help guarantee rights of all and foster peace (sound familiar?) He specifically cited the recent elections in El Salvador, where only months before, civil war brought on by Cuban and Soviet-backed guerrillas raged. The power of democracy had already borne fruits. More was to come.

President Reagan addressing British Parliament in London, England. 6/8/82.

Larger image here.

From the speech:

If history teaches anything it teaches self-delusion in the face of unpleasant facts is folly. We see around us today the marks of our terrible dilemma -- predictions of doomsday, antinuclear demonstrations, an arms race in which the West must, for its own protection, be an unwilling participant. At the same time we see totalitarian forces in the world who seek subversion and conflict around the globe to further their barbarous assault on the human spirit. What, then, is our course? Must civilization perish in a hail of fiery atoms? Must freedom wither in a quiet, deadening accommodation with totalitarian evil?
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While we must be cautious about forcing the pace of change, we must not hesitate to declare our ultimate objectives and to take concrete actions to move toward them. We must be staunch in our conviction that freedom is not the sole prerogative of a lucky few, but the inalienable and universal right of all human beings. So states the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which, among other things, guarantees free elections.

The objective I propose is quite simple to state: to foster the infrastructure of democracy, the system of a free press, unions, political parties, universities, which allows a people to choose their own way to develop their own culture, to reconcile their own differences through peaceful means.
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the march of freedom and democracy which will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-expression of the people.
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Our military strength is a prerequisite to peace, but let it be clear we maintain this strength in the hope it will never be used, for the ultimate determinant in the struggle that's now going on in the world will not be bombs and rockets, but a test of wills and ideas, a trial of spiritual resolve, the values we hold, the beliefs we cherish, the ideals to which we are dedicated.
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I've often wondered about the shyness of some of us in the West about standing for these ideals that have done so much to ease the plight of man and the hardships of our imperfect world. This reluctance to use those vast resources at our command reminds me of the elderly lady whose home was bombed in the Blitz. As the rescuers moved about, they found a bottle of brandy she'd stored behind the staircase, which was all that was left standing. And since she was barely conscious, one of the workers pulled the cork to give her a taste of it. She came around immediately and said, ``Here now -- there now, put it back. That's for emergencies.'' [Laughter]

Well, the emergency is upon us. Let us be shy no longer. Let us go to our strength. Let us offer hope. Let us tell the world that a new age is not only possible but probable.

During the dark days of the Second World War, when this island was incandescent with courage, Winston Churchill exclaimed about Britain's adversaries, ``What kind of a people do they think we are?'' Well, Britain's adversaries found out what extraordinary people the British are. But all the democracies paid a terrible price for allowing the dictators to underestimate us. We dare not make that mistake again. So, let us ask ourselves, ``What kind of people do we think we are?'' And let us answer, ``Free people, worthy of freedom and determined not only to remain so but to help others gain their freedom as well.''
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Well, the task I've set forth will long outlive our own generation. But together, we too have come through the worst. Let us now begin a major effort to secure the best -- a crusade for freedom that will engage the faith and fortitude of the next generation. For the sake of peace and justice, let us move toward a world in which all people are at last free to determine their own destiny.

President Reagan greeting former U.S. Rangers at Pointe du Hoc, Normandy, France. 6/6/84. Gesturing to the veterans: "These are the boys of Pointe du Hoc. These are the men who took the cliffs. These are the champions who helped free a continent. These are the heroes who helped end a war." In that 40th anniversary of D-Day, he let all of us know the importance of service and sacrifice necessary to keep us safe and advance a vision for a better world. Larger image here.

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Reader's Share Their Recollections

Through the Looking Glass offers her own view in "A Toast to Greatness:"

On President Reagan's 25th Anniversary of his first term in office, I want to tell you what this man meant to me. I was in the U.S. Navy under Carter. For me, having to see Carter's photo on a wall in practically every building that I walked into became a job in itself. I, along with so many others, got out of the service while Carter was in, because Carter was in.

Then along came Ronald Reagan. He was the first President I had ever voted for. And vote for him, I did. Something about him made me realize that as long as he was at the helm; my family, my country, and I would be all right. As his term in office progressed, I began to admire this man more and more. President Reagan stood up to anyone and everyone. He didn't pull any punches. Reagan in my estimation is the American President. He is America.

In his First Inaugural Address, Tuesday, January 20, 1981, President Ronald W. Reagan said:

'Above all, we must realize that no arsenal, or no weapon in the arsenals of the world, is so formidable as the will and moral courage of free men and women. It is a weapon our adversaries in today's world do not have. It is a weapon that we as Americans do have. Let that be understood by those who practice terrorism and prey upon their neighbors.'
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This man, President Ronald Wilson Reagan is my hero. He will always be my hero. And to this, I say, "God bless you and thank you, Mr. President."

President Reagan addresses U.S. troops at Camp Liberty Bell, the DMZ, South Korea. 11/13/83.

It's clear from the above and earlier comments from military people, that there was a special bond between President Reagan and the troops. But exactly how did that translate into an America more effective as a military superpower capable of presenting the credible deterrent necessary to make the political changes Reagan proposed a reality without war?

John Yetter,CW5 US Army (Retired) offers his perspective in "An Old Soldier Salutes President Ronald Reagan:"

I joined the U.S. Army in September of 1967 and retired in Nov of 1998; so I experienced the remainder of President Johnson's administration and then the administrations of Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush, and finally Clinton. Up through 1981, I saw duty in Vietnam, Korea, the US and Italy.

During my tour in Vietnam the Army received the funding necessary to prosecute the war as well as maintain equipment readiness levels. In Korea (1972 -72) I learned our main theater thrust was to stem the potential flood of North Koreans. In Italy (1978 - 81) I learned our main theater mission was to stem the flood of Soviet armor from rolling through the Fulda Gap. However, after 1975 (our final withdrawal from Vietnam), the military funding for training and equipment maintenance dropped to very low levels. Our equipment was vintage 1950s and readiness levels of equipment and units were suffering. Neither President Ford nor Carter was prone to reshaping and revitalizing our military. Although they were not anti-military like the last president I served under, they seemed more focused on the social aspects of improving the American lifestyle.

My first tour with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) started in January of 1982, about a year after President Reagan had been inaugurated. The unit I joined had just received the new UH-60A Blackhawk helicopters. We also received the funds necessary to train the division to a very high readiness level and they were well spent. We also enjoyed the funds necessary for equipment readiness. The Army (as well as other services) experienced more new weapons programs supporting modernization which improved the overall readiness. It became obvious that we were going to be the world's most formidable armed forces and that we were also going to be the most technologically advanced forces, too.

Whenever President Reagan visited a military installation, he was received with great love, because he genuinely cared about the people of the armed forces. Most visits by CINCs were viewed as exercises in futility; but a visit by President Ronald Reagan was viewed as an honor. He knew he was expecting a lot from his military through the constant training and readiness deployments that made us so formidable. He wanted to show that he understood what he asked and that it was important to world peace. He may have been thought the buffoon by the media and the elites, but he communicated well with the troops and we understood that he was no dummy; that he was in fact a shrewd strategist. History has born that out.

Fortunately, President Reagan never had to commit the forces to the kind of conflict we were trained to fight and win. However, the proof of the pudding, so to speak, was our unequivocal and rapid success during Desert Storm. Our equipment and readiness levels were courtesy of President Ronald Reagan.

President Ronald Reagan may have been perceived by the elite as somewhat less than a refined statesman and was the brunt of many unflattering satirical political editorials, but in the final analysis, he was indeed a brilliant strategist and one of the natural leaders of our time who had a vision that did not fail him or the American people. One of the qualities I most admired about President Reagan was his unshakable faith in the basic goodness of American citizens. He also believed that all humans basically desired the same freedoms that America enjoyed and given the opportunity they would prefer it to subjugation.

President Ronald Reagan, I salute you and your contributions to a free world. May God allow these earthly accolades to reach you in Heaven.

President Reagan congratulating a cadet at the Naval Academy Commencement ceremony in Annapolis, Maryland. 5/22/85. Pretty hip for an old guy! (larger image)