My world view was so established and impacted by growing up in the wonderful small farm town of Hampton. It was an amazing microcosm of the greater world with many nationalities, beliefs, and traditions. Within that microcosm, I learned to love and appreciate so many different things. The simplicity of the front porch at the general store was a classroom where we were taught by older generations, usually in their 60’s to 80’s. The lessons were mostly about respect for our country, our town and others, and a lot of good-natured kidding. It was such a natural and safe setting for these discussions. While sipping a soda or eating an ice cream, we listened with interest to the stories relayed to us. These men, some lifelong residents, and others, first-generation immigrants, offered us rarely combined perspectives on life that were always respectful and honoring.

I realize that the difference now versus back then was that in all those discussions there was always a sense of unity of purpose and vision for our country. These front porch mentors were those who had endured the war to end all wars (WWI), a cataclysmic destruction of the historical booming economy of the 1920s, and a second world war in less than one generation. Many of these men had been born in the 1800s and were children in the aftermath of the not so distant Civil War that their fathers fought in.

These men and their spouses were those that raised our parents born after WWI and had their childhoods molded by the intense poverty and lack of the great depression and met WWII head-on while still in high school. Interesting that our parents are those that are identified by being the “greatest generation”. These two generations were the very foundational fabric of the town of Hampton in our youth in the ’50s, 60’s and ’70s. Honestly, there was nothing in the wonderful, protected lifestyle of our youth that could give us any understanding of what the two previous generations experienced and the price they paid for us to enjoy our Hampton childhood.

So, as we celebrate Veterans Day let’s honor the men and women who paid for the liberties and the freedoms we enjoy and remember that they fought for us to be able to make room for different beliefs, both spiritually and politically. Remember too, that the right-wing and the left-wing are both a part of the same bird.

John Osborn