PAGE 4 - WESTSIDE MESSENGER - <strong>May</strong> 15, <strong>2022</strong> Opinion Page www.columbusmessenger.com Ukraine needs people willing to stand up to a bully Most of our childhood memories vanish over time like rain droplets hitting the hot pavement and evaporating into the air following a passing summer shower. Only a few make lasting impressions. The tragedy in Ukraine opened one of those files from the 1960 drawer for me. I was in sixth grade. My dad took me to see a new movie, “The Alamo.” Being such a young lad, I didn’t question any of the inaccuracies in the movie. For all I knew, John Wayne was the real Davy Crockett and Richard Widmark was Jim Bowie. I sat glued and mesmerized to the screen for the entire movie. I’ve recalled one particular scene in that movie many times in my lifetime. The sad Ukraine situation has once again resurfaced it. The men inside the Alamo Mission had repelled two advances by the brutal army of Mexico’s General Santa Anna. The siege was on the eve of going onto its 13th day. The small Alamo force, under command of William Travis, was grossly undermanned and poorly equipped. He was begging for outside support from the government. But the United States had a treaty with Mexico and feared supplying men and weapons would have been an overt act of war. Sam Houston was training reinforcements who were sympathetic for establishment of the Republic of Texas cause, but they weren’t ready for combat. The small Alamo contingent was thus on their own and their probable demise on the upcoming day all but certain. It’s the dark night before the final attack on the Alamo. The movie cameras take us inside. Such a moving scene that made this little boy feel like he was there with them. It’s eerily quiet as the men contemplate their lives, families and final thoughts of their certain demise. In the background the movie’s theme song starts, “The Green Leaves of Summer,” a beautiful harmonizing ballad about life’s beginning and ending journey, sung by folk music group The Brothers Four. There’s a conversation between characters Smitty (Frankie Avalon, hit song “Venus” in 1959) and Parson: Smitty: So many times every day you stop and give thanks, but mostly I don’t catch on what you’re thanking the Lord for. I mean, there’s nothing special. Going shopping R R E P D Y J G A Z E H R C P W E X C H A N G E Z I S A Z V U C T O I D B C R E D I T S A F I Z U Z G A P U R C H A S E H R R N R R R I U A N M T N J K P E T T N G R S J P N G I T E R C E G N A H C L U R D K D Q O E R B D I D E O E O C I K L M I U U E N C C G U A S N I X O P R R A E S G K R P T A G Z T T X R L I A C F L S O M B I I L B Q D B L F A P Q W N K P O S Q P N Y E Y R L J K T J K N O I T C E L E S L J Z I G Parson: I give thanks for the time and for the place. Smitty: The time and the place, Parson? Parson: The time to live and the place to die. That’s all any man gets. No more, no less. Shortly after the sun rose the next morning Santa Anna’s overwhelming forces attacked again. Before long it was over, the entire Alamo garrison cruelly massacred. I remember how shaken and upset I was as I quietly walked out to the car, wondering why no one had come to their rescue, how they could have just sat by and let it happen. The old, “it’s just a movie” line from dad didn’t help. It happened in history and it’s now happening again in Ukraine, this time at the hands of a different man, a bully who can’t put together a complete sentence that’s not full of major lies, an uncivilized barbarian who has no place being on Planet Earth. One of my all-time favorite shows from way back when was Jackie Gleason (Ralph Kramden) in “The Honeymooners.” The sad Ukraine situation surfaced my memories of a specific episode. Ralph had witnessed a hold-up by two thugs. Realizing he could identify them, the crooks followed him home. They tied Alice, Ralph’s wife, up in a chair and one of them took Ralph into the other room to be worked over. Alice is crying and distraught as the banging and booming is heard in the other room. She fears the worst. Then, the door opens and rolly polly Ralph proudly struts out and exclaims, “he obviously never faced a New York City bus driver before. I deal with punks like him every day.” The other thug takes off. Ralph stood up to the bullies and won. As my mind pondered the Ukraine tragedy, I also found myself recalling an episode of “The Andy Griffith Show.” It’s the one where Opie gets picked on by the school bully and must fork over his daily lunch money to him or get beat up. His dad, Andy, finds out and has a long talk with Opie, basically saying sometimes you’ve got to stand up for something. Opie returns from school the next day with a black eye and a big smile and regained self-respect. He’d stood up to the bully and was now being left alone. In another episode Barney is intimidated by two bully men illegally selling farm produce along the road after he W Q J V J N M E H L H X I N K <strong>Messenger</strong> Word Search AISLE BAGGER BARGAIN BRAND CART CASHIER CHANGE COUNTER COUPON CREDIT DEAL DISCOUNT DISPLAY EXCHANGE FREEBEE MANIKIN PRICE PROMOTION PURCHASE RACK RECEIPT RETURN SALE SAMPLE SELECTION SIZE SPREE TAG Guest Column Dave Burton asked to move along. The implication was they’ll beat him up when they see him out of uniform. He starts wearing his uniform all the time, even off-duty. Andy lectures him to stand up to them and he finally does. “You’re both a lot bigger than I am, but this badge represents a lot of people. They’re a lot bigger than either one of you. Now, are you gonna get movin?” They do and Barney regains his selfrespect. The civilized world is now being held captive by an assortment of always changing threats from a brutal and sadistic bully. Every day for weeks now we flip on our TVs, sit back, watch and listen to the play-by-play commentary of the newest gut-wrenching overnight humanitarian atrocities. We listen to what’s unfolding with non-stop recaps, analysis, predictions and graphic film coverage as though it was the Super Bowl. The only Ralph Kramden, Barney Fife and Opie Taylors we see are inside the Ukraine Alamo. History is seemingly about to repeat itself with no bona fide outside help on the way for a grossly outmanned and under-equipped country. Many efforts to send the simple sustaining needs of survival have been thrown their way, sometimes succeeding. <strong>May</strong>be enough has reached some areas of desperate need for them to survive another Santa Anna charge or two. But the realistic fear is it’s just a matter of time before The Green Leaves of Summer will be calling them home. Nobody wants to risk upsetting the playground bully. Rather than stand up to this evil and inhumane bully, we’ve decided to not rock the boat. Every new threat he barks out sends shudders and cowering across the civilized world. Nobody wants to risk escalating the conflict, we don’t want to get too involved. So, it’s easier to just stand back and let it play out and hope it ends soon. After all, there are polls and an upcoming election to worry about. Meanwhile, the bully is dictating every step of the annihilation horror script right before our eyes as we look on and question how this can be happening. I’m not going to predict the outcome of what’s still unfolding in Ukraine. One scenario wouldn’t surprise me. We continue to look on in shock and cry outrage but maintain our standoffish approach so as not to rile the bully. The horrific events continue until the demise and takeover of Ukraine culminates. Media coverage fades and moves on to new stories as our leaders hope our thoughts do the same. Before long, we enter into new agreements with Russia that include demands for ending their economic sanctions. They agree to no more aggression. We sign and they break their promises within days and start a fresh takeover of some other country. History says not too farfetched. It’s already been allowed to become a tragedy in too many ways. I too don’t want to risk an escalation, but I also don’t want to embolden the bully to continue the script anywhere else. At what point do you stand up to the bully and tell him enough, no more? We need Ralph, Opie and Barney. We could also use Fonzie. Dave Burton is a guest columnist for the Columbus <strong>Messenger</strong> Newspapers. He lives in Grove City. See Puzzle Solution page 16
www.columbusmessenger.com <strong>May</strong> 15, <strong>2022</strong> - WESTSIDE MESSENGER - PAGE 5 Jedi Training <strong>Messenger</strong> photos by Pat Donahue Duane McVay (left) was joined for a photo with some dressed up friends who attended the Star Wars Celebration event <strong>May</strong> 9 at Columbia Heights Church in Galloway. This is the fifth year for the event. Here, 7-year-old Milo Seqovia makes his way through the tunnel that completes the obstacle course portion of his Jedi Training at the 5th annual Star Wars Celebration. CONGRATULATIONS CAROLINE RICHARDS Class of <strong>2022</strong> Grove City High School SAMPLE Good Luck at Miami ATTENTION: Class of <strong>2022</strong> Parents Congratulate your Senior with this Special Ad! COST: $27.00 To Reserve Space Call Kathy 614-272-5422 or email kathy@columbusmessenger.com Deadline: Friday, June 3rd Publication: June 12th
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