Not too long ago Tom Brokaw wrote a book called the Greatest
Generation . . . If you were born before 1940, you are part of what I
call us the Luckiest Generation. We had it all.

We were born before television, before polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox,contact lens, videos, and the pill. We were born before radar, credit cards, laser beams and ballpoint pens . . . before dishwashers, tumble driers, electric blankets, drip-dry clothes . . . and before man walked on the moon.

We got married first and then lived together, (quaint wasn’t it?). We
thought fast food was what you ate in lent, a Big Mac was an oversized raincoat.

Before 1940 Made in Japan meant junk, the term making out referred to how you did in your exams . . . and going all the way meant staying on the bus to the terminal. In our day, cigarette smoking was fashionable, grass was mowed, coke was kept in the coal bin. There was more, but I think you get the idea.

I was born and raised Elgin. And my life long friends were the kids I met in first grade. I was born in 1926 and was 7 years old when the worst of depression hit in 1933. My memories of that time are not
unpleasant . . . most of us wore clothes from the Salvation Army, ate
lots of oatmeal and ring baloney. I attended Columbia Elementary
school on Hill Street. Before our Christmas school break we all lined
up in the hall stairway and sang Christmas carols and received a box of hard candy . . . and one orange.

The next few years were happy and fun years. We played baseball and dodge ball, and on the school ground swings and slides, we played “holly” at the street corners at night. We soaped windows, tricked and treated and on 4th of July we were up early to shoot fire crackers, called Lady Fingers underneath tin cans. They made the most racket that way.

Once a week the iceman came to deliver ice blocks to people’s homes by truck. We always ran for the ice chips that flew off as he cut the square block of ice so it would fit into the customer’s ice box. We could fish and canoe on the Fox River and on Saturday afternoon we would walk down to the Grove Movie Theater with 15 cents; 10 cents for the movie and 5 cents for candy, to see the next chapter of Flash Gordon.

We grew up at an almost perfect time in history. None of our families were rich but we weren’t dirt poor. These were the families that raised the soldiers and sailors and Marines of World War II.

Those were the days of real freedom in America. We were lucky! Our generation had it all!

Then came World War II. We did not have a senior prom because so many of the fellows were gone. We collected tin and grease for the war effort. We helped sell was bonds. When we reached 16 years old, we got after school jobs. Many married women went to work in factories for the first time to help support their families. It was considered the patriotic thing to do. No one ever had to be told to support our troops. There was no complaining about rationing, or about things we couldn’t buy in the stores. It was an era of pride and caring and doing your part however small it was.

Then the war was over and the soldiers came home and quoting Tom Brokaw from his book, “they immediately began the task of building their lives and the world they wanted. They were mature beyond their years, tempered by what they had been through, disciplined by military training and sacrifices. They married in record numbers and gave birth to another distinctive generation ...the Baby Boomers. They stayed true to their values of personal responsibility, duty, honor and faith.

“And the Women of the World War II generation, who had demonstrated so convincingly that they had so much more to offer beyond their traditional work, were the underpinnings for the liberation of their gender, even when many of their husbands resisted the idea.”

A war time economy was converted into the most powerful peace time economy in history. The factories converted from making shells and guns into factories making wash machines, refrigerators, cars, you name it.

Women continued working and soon two wage earners could afford a lifestyle they never knew was possible.

So you say, “We know all that.” Yes, it is history and for me it is an awesome feeling to look back on that history and realize I have lived through it all. And I hope I have learned from it.

Now we are in the midst of the most important and dangerous election of our lives. And we should be ashamed to admit there are millions of Americans who are politically, morally and ethically uneducated. Here in Illinois we seem to lead the herd.

I have never forgotten two statements made years age…

Soviet Premier Krushev said that we are so large of a country we would never be conquered from the outside but it will come, he said, from “within.”

Hitler said “Your child belongs to us already” as 10 year old German boys pledged to give up their lives for him. Think about it! With our current Congress and our educational system how far down those roads are we?

It’s time we forget about ourselves, the people we like and don’t like and focus on the future of our children and grandchildren. What has happened to our own sense of personal responsibility? Our duties? Our honor and our faith?

I am probably one of the few Bush supporters still around. Despite being insulted, made in cartoon jokes, made fun of on late night shows, and
Being criticized by the press and editorial writers, I have never heard him whine or defend himself, he has never lost his temper and jokingly makes fun of his own shortcomings. That takes courage and confidence in what he believes is the right thing to do.

We should be proud of what he has done to protect us. He is a good man, he hasn’t cheated on his wife, he goes to church without wearing it on his sleeve…and you know he deeply cares about America.

Contrast Bush for just a moment with Chicago and Mayor Daley, Cook County and Stroger, or The State of Illinois and Blagovich…. We need to help people see the difference. We need to register more Republicans, educate them to our beliefs and give them responsibilities.

There is an election coming up in November. Most voters are confused.

Our challenge is to educate our neighbors. We need to find the patience to listen to their hopes and fears, and find our own courage share with them what Republicans stand for.

And finally, I wanted to share this with you. . . .
It matters. Yes it matters. What you do, who you stand up for, what you share matters. If we are going to change the direction of a Congress gone wrong, a State in a shambles, a great city wracked by corruption we have to act. It is often uncomfortable to stand up for what is not conventional wisdom. The challenges America face are the fabric we have been weaving for the last 25 years, not the fault of an honorable man in the White House.

What we did during the depression, what millions sacrificed in World War Two mattered, and gave us the opportunity to be the greatest nation in the world. What you do this fall, what you share with your neighbors, what candidates and dreams you choose to work, matter.
The freedom of individuals, small honest government, allowing people to keep more of what they all matter; please go share that before it is too
late.

Thank you for listening and thank you to my family for making this a special occasion for me. God Bless you all.

I’m ready to go to work, let’s get started.