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As generations turn, it is the nature of the world that things pass. Things once important loose their meaning, but others take their place. As a college teacher, it has struck me that for several years now none of my students knew the expression "Lafayette, we are here", which was one, among others, drilled into my head as a child in school. We were told it was General Pershing who spoke the words when he arrived in France in 1917 to assist the Franco-British efforts against the German Empire. I've learned since then that it was not Pershing but one of his aids who uttered the phrase, but I've learned much more about the fragility of common understanding. When I was in school, no one had to teach me about the "Longest Day" -- it was just one of the biggest movies in the theaters. June 6, 1944 was not really the longest day of that summer, but it surely seemed like it to the soldiers landing on the beaches of Normandy. |
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This page last updated on 6/22/2001 12:44:11 AM.