Mary Pitt: "Sounds of a lifetime"

SOUNDS OF A LIFETIME

by

Mary Pitt

"Damn Herbert Hoover!"

"Damn Roosevelt!"

"What this country needs is Alf Landon!" Dust storms, homelessness, hunger, migration misery.

:It's Armageddon! The world is burning up, just like in the Bible. Jesus is coming tomorrow! Are you ready?"

Gene Autry singing "San Antonio Rose". Grand Ole Opry, Fibber MsGee and Molly, Amos and Andy. Let's Pretend.

"Dad, there's going to be a war and so I have enlisted in the Navy. I'll miss you all"

"Pearl Harbor? What's a pearl harbor?"

"Dad, since we can't farm any more, I'm enlisting in the Army. I'll miss you all."

Bing Crosby, "White Christmas", "Blue Birds Over the White Cliffs of Dover, scrap metal drives, rationing, defense stamps, war bonds.

"I am a Navy nurse and your son is my patient. He said to tell you not to worry. He will be home soon"

"Mom. I'm sorry I couldn't make it home for Dad's funeral but my ship was at sea."

It's Armageddon! Jesus is coming! Are you ready?"

"Mom. I have signed up for the Army Air Corps. I'll miss you all."

"Mom. I have enlisted in the Air Corps. I'll miss you all."

"Mom, I am enlisting in the Navy and I will need your signature. I'll miss you all."

"The President of the United States regrets to inform you that your son is missing in action."

Dirty Boogie, "I'll Walk Alone", "When Johhny Comes Marching Home Again", rationing, shortages.

John Wayne, John Payne, Betty Grable, Ann Miller, Betty Hutton.

"Your son has been located and is in a Prisoner of War camp in the hands of the German army."

Eddie Arnold, "Cattle Call", Frank Sinatra, jitterbugs.

Harry Truman, Potsdam, Malta, Yalta, divided nations, occupations.

"V-E DAY! The boys are coming home!"

War crimes trials, "Just followo\ing orders".

"Atomic bomb! I don't know just what it is but it sure blew the hell out of the Japs!"

"It's Armageddon! Jesus is coming! Are you ready?"

"V-J Day! Peace at last!" War crimes trials, "Just following orders".

GI bill, crowded classrooms, housing boom, job shortage, baby boom. "I like Ike!"

"Sentimental Journey, "Don't Fence Me In", white picket fences, three and a half children, women back in the kitchen "where they belong".

Korean War! "Why did they divide it in the first place?" "Oh, Potsdam, Malta, and Yalta."

Porkchop Hill, Yalu River, more young men dying, truce talks, Oregon lumber camps full of migrants from the Midwest, dances at the Grange hall, "Bonaparte's Retreat", "Birth of the Blues", James Dean. "Live hard, die young, and leave a beautiful memory" translated to
"Live poor, work hard, and party hearty".

Peace at last? No! Vietnam War! "Apocolypse Now", hippies, demonstrations, Black Panthers, turmoil. JFK, MLK, RFK, LBJ, Kent State, "One Tin Soldier".

Contraceptives! Abortion rights! Pete Seegar singing, "We'll all be a-doublin' in thirty-nine years"!

"It's Armageddon! Jesus is coming! Are you ready?"

LBJ, presidential lies, rice paddies, Mekong Delta, Gulf of Tonkin, military pullout. Did we win or lose? Who the hell cares? Our boys are home! Civil rights, equal rights, male chauvinistic pigs, bra burnings., Equal Rights Amendment.

Nixon, Watergate, presidential lies,cover-up, impeachment hearings, scandals, missing tapes, disgrace.

Ford, caretaker, bad golfer, good guy but poor President.

Carter, Pal-Israel agreement, Nobel peace prize, Brother Billy, battle agsint "nookier perliferation, Iran War, hostage crisis, gas lines, unrest and uncertainlty.

"It's Armageddon! Jesus is coming! Are you ready?"

Reagan, tax cuts, theater, Iran-Contra, cover-up, scandals, Ollie North, conspiracies.

G.H.W. Bush, Iraq-Iran War, Armageddon again, all-volunteer military, Dan Quayle, national debt, scandals, unrest and dissatisfaction.

Clinton, disappointiong compromises, Kosovo, World Trade Center bombing, Lani Guiniere, Janet Reno, China becomes "most favored nation", Monica Lewinsky, impeachment, Elian Gonzales, Fidel Castro.

G.W. Bush, Executive Orders, 9/11, almost 3,000 dead, two planes flying into buildings, one augured into a field, but identification of all perpetrators found on the scene within hours despite total destruction of the planes, (?), undeclared war in Afghanistan, invasion of Iraq, soaring national debt, tax cut for the rich, "free" trade, illegal immigration, extended tours of duty, neglect of veterans. "Billions for war and not one penny for working Americans", jobs moved overseas, open borders, free trade, off shoring, outsourcing, dot com bubble, burst, housing boom, bust, mortgage foreclosure, recession, permanent war against everybody. "Work hard, live poor, shut up and go shopping!"

"Damn Clinton!"

"Damn Bush!"

"It's Armageddon! Jesus is coming! Are you ready?"

Power-hungry, corrupt leaders, greedy corporations, oppression of the poor, bleeding the working class. Ho hum! The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The author is a very "with-it" old lady who aspires to bring a bit of truth, justice, and common sense to a nation that has lost touch with its humanity in the search for societal "perfection."