Then and Now.
Written September 13, 2001
By Bruce Charles Johnson
[The author, a lawyer in Michigan, is proud both to be a United States citizen, and the son of Charles Earl Johnson, who was mentioned in dispatches to His Majesty King George VI for his heroism in his service with Britain’s Eighth Army during Britain’s finest hour.]
In the bleak winter of 1939, Britain’s King George VI gave a radio address to his embattled people. His words, as best I can recall them, were these:
I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, give me a light, that I may see into the darkness, and a map, that I may know the way. And he said to me, step into the darkness without a light, and place your hand in the Hand of God. And it will be brighter for you than a light, and safer than a known way.
These words, which set the tone for Britain’s magnificent response to the terrible ordeal that followed, seem very appropriate for America today as well. And in some ways, our situation today resembles that of Britain in 1939.
Up to that point, Britain had enjoyed a commanding world position, one which she tenuously still held. And though she lost many young men in World War I on the fields of France, the British homeland seemed invulnerable in its island position, protected by the Royal Navy. Not since 1066 had an invader conquered the island, and except for one minor bombing raid in World War I, Britain had been untouched by the devastation that had racked the Continent of Europe for centuries.
America of late has liked to call itself “the world’s last remaining superpower.” And except for those of us who live near the Canadian and Mexican borders, we have tended to think of this country as an island. Though not literally accurate, this view had a certain figurative truth, for the United States is no more threatened by Canada or Mexico than England was by Scotland or Wales.
But in 1940, Britain learned that not even islands are invulnerable. Though the world’s last remaining fighting democracy did not fall victim to Hitler’s armies, the Luftwaffe loosed a rain of terror not only on London but on cities across the island. On September 11, America experienced similar terror from which neither the oceans nor our air defenses could protect us, any more than the English Channel or the Royal Navy could keep Hitler’s bombers out of England’s skies.
The parallels are by no means exact, of course. Britain faced a foe that was not only evil but militarily mighty, and seemed likely at the time literally to conquer the world.. Whatever pain our foes may inflict, they can hardly do that. And while Britain stood in the summer of 1940 terrifyingly alone, apart from her own Empire and her Commonwealth partners – Dominions, as they were called then – the United States can count on the active support of much of the civilized world.
The perils, apart from the risk of conquest, are not the same, either. We have experienced one long brutal moment of unforgettable terror, and face now its long lingering aftermath. During the Blitz, Londoners faced night after night after night of unrelieved terror and death.
But the images of September 11, with the falling buildings and scenes of ruin, the heroic rescuers and terrified survivors, inevitably recall those bombed-out streets in London in 1940. And the symbolism of targets hit in both cases was intended to deliver a knockout blow to the national psyche.
We are still learning the full extent of what the terrorists meant to destroy on September 11, but they seem to have aimed for the citadels of American political and economic life. The Nazis bombed Westminster Abbey, which to Britons symbolized both their history and their faith in God, the Houses of Parliament, which symbolized the free speech and representative government Hitler detested, and the King and Queen who are the heads of Britain’s extended family, with a place in the hearts of their people not unlike that of the Emperor and Empress in Japan.
The King who played that role in Britain, by the way, was new in the job, largely untested, and regarded as lacking in eloquence, qualities some have ascribed to our President. In fact, until that wonderful Christmas address in 1939, the new King, afflicted with a speech impediment and painfully shy, had conscientiously performed all his public duties, but had tried to keep set speeches to a minimum.
There are other ways the United States in what can perhaps be “our finest hour” feels much like Britain in hers. Our political leaders stand united in unprecedented solidarity. In Britain in 1940, all parties joined together under Churchill to form a Coalition Government, and indeed Churchill’s strongest support for his No Surrender policy came not from his own Conservatives but from Labour. There will be no formal coalition in Washington, but there is united resolve.
There is also a certainty that we are in a moral contest, as was Britain in 1940. Britons in 1940 did not regard their nation or government as perfect. There was growing awareness of the injustice of colonialism and imperialism abroad and social and economic inequality at home, which in 1945 brought Labour to power with a program of radical reform. But in the meantime, there was a foe who threatened to extinguish liberty, democracy, tolerance, and even human decency, not only in Britain but around the world. That Hitler was evil, and that the demands of morality required his defeat, was not doubted.
In America, too, we can recognize our limitations and shortcomings. This is perhaps not the time for soul-searching as to what they may be, but we can readily recall that one thing that united the candidate in last fall’s election was the conviction that there were many respects in which America could and had to do better.
But the fact that our nation may not be perfect is not, to make a huge understatement, an excuse for anyone to seek to destroy us, and to slaughter the innocent and defensive among us, indiscriminately.
We have blessings Britain did not have in her darkest hour. We do not have bombs falling every night; the survival of our national existence is not directly threatened; we are not besieged by enemy submarines facing us with the real threat of starvation; and perhaps most important, we do not stand alone, but shoulder to shoulder with courageous and strong allies.
But like Britain in 1939 and 1940, we face the uncertainty of tragedy and terror, and terrible uncertainty about what lies head. King George at the outset of the struggle urged Britons to step bravely into the unknown. They did so magnificently, not knowing at the outset how huge the cost would be, but resulting in an ultimate triumph not only for Britain but for all humanity, and not least for those who lived under the direct yoke of their foe.
We need to face our struggles as bravely. The tricky thing about stepping into the unknown, even with faith in God, is you do not know what will happen next. But there is not reason not to believe that if we care as brave and resolute as Britain in her finest hour, our finest hour will result in a triumph for humanity just as magnificent.
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