Old Heroes, Old Glory and Old Dad

June might just be my favorite month of the year. That's because this month has three celebrations that don't have the cachet of being "cool" or "with it." D-Day, Flag Day, and Father's Day have absolutely no contemporary political correctness attached to them whatsoever! There are no lapel ribbons or colored bracelets to commemorate these days. No product endorsements. No awareness campaigns. What a pleasure!

The liberal media pretty much ignores these days and socially conscious entertainers don't celebrate them, and that's okey-dokey with me. It separates the phony baloney jump-on-the-bandwagon crowd from the rest of us. It clears the way for regular everyday Americans to show respect and honor to World War II veterans, Old Glory, and probably the least respected group in modern America, our fathers.

D-Day, June 6th, marks the 71st anniversary of the Normandy invasion by allied troops. With each passing year fewer and fewer heroic men who "hit the beach" that day survive. More than 100,000 Americans were there at the start of the campaign to retake Europe from Hitler. Last year only a few hundred returned to France for the commemoration.

16 million Americans served in World War II. When President Reagan made his pilgrimage to the battle site of Pointe du Hoc in 1984 on the invasion's 40th anniversary there were still 10.7 million World War II veterans alive. In 2014 there were only about one million. By the next decennial anniversary (2024), the VA estimates that their numbers will be down to 81,117

President Reagan began his 40th anniversary D-Day speech saying:

We stand today at a place of battle, one that 40 years ago saw and felt the worst of war. Men bled and died here for a few feet of -- or inches of -- sand, as bullets and shellfire cut through their ranks. About them, General Omar Bradley later said, "Every man who set foot on Omaha Beach that day was a hero."

Today the word "hero" has been overused and clichˇd, but in the strictest and purest sense of the word Bradley was right. The men who stormed Omaha Beach were the real goods.

Bona fide heroes. I can only add, G0D bless those men and the other brave men who fought in World War II. They were, and continue to be, an inspiration to all Americans.

Flag Day, if you didn't know, is June 14th and is a perfect time to go out and show your unabashedly jingoistic side. Fly your flag, wear your pin, and annoy your leftist relatives and friends by proclaiming how much you love America! Shove patriotism in their face just as they have shoved their progressive believes in yours. This is Flag Day and it's your turn!

June 14th is not an arbitrary date incidentally; it commemorates Congress's adoption of the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States on June 14, 1777. And did you know that Flag Day represents the beginning of an entire weeklong observance called National Flag Week? That's right; display your flag all week (or all month, what the heck). The longer the better to irritate liberals.

Poor fathers. They have been ignored, maligned, and made fun of for years. Fathers have been the butt of jokes on TV commercials, movies, and sit coms literally for decades. In fact, dads haven't been taken seriously since "Father Knows Best" and "Leave it to Beaver" went off the air in 1960 and 1963.

We might just shrug the whole thing off as good-natured fun if it weren't for the fact that laughing at stupid dad over time has had the effect of marginalizing his importance to the family unit. The imperative role of the father as head of the family has been diminished, thanks in large part to women's lib, feminists, and the gay liberation movement.

Modern egalitarian teachings, which purports to stress equally of people, seem to stop short of including fathers.

Society celebrates the "new normal" alternative families. And while one-parent households with working moms are honored and admired, no one admits that the disappearance of a father in the home is a real problem for children.

There's no question that the erosion of the father in American households has had a negative impact on our society. Just look at the crime stats for young men growing up in fatherless homes.

It's high time to celebrate dad and show him a bit of respect on Father's Day. All the hardworking, loving fathers in this world need to be showcased and honored. All things being equal, there is no substitute for having two parents in a family --- a mother AND a father.

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JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. He's also a Southern California-based freelance writer.