Word: americanizing
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Vlad Georgescu, a Romanian historian, had more opportunities than most of his countrymen. As a professor in Romania, he was able to travel to the West and meet regularly with intellectuals and scholars at American universities such as Columbia and Berkeley. This contact with Western thinkers gave him unique support when he was expelled from his country this spring. The Romanian government did not like his attempt to create a movement for democracy and a Free Romanian University, which were considered signs of discontent and upheaval among intellectuals. Georgescu was arrested and exiled. While at Harvard this summer, Georgescu commented...
...diving, Freshman Adriana Holy came through with a first place finish in the one meter competition, followed by Pam Stone, in second place. In the three meter event, B.U.'s Veronica Ribot, a finalist in last summer's Pan-American Games, topped Stone and Holy...
Sure, we're proud of the Minutemen in the Revolution; we're relieved that the Civil War was able to heal the awful internal strife that had divided our country; we note that the Spanish-American War marked the emergence of American power and leadership in the world (despite our misgivings about its imperialist implications); and we more keenly sense the brute horror but ultimate triumph of justice and order in the two world wars. Veterans Day conjures up all of these recollections about America's military heritage. Yet something is lacking and terribly wrong today...
What makes Vietnam unique in the history of American military endeavors is the over-whelming lack of moral commitment the war entailed. The soldiers didn't want to fight there. Our soldiers harbored no personal resentment against "Charlie," a contrived enemy, but they were compelled to fight him by the faceless military command. Our leaders were split--some wanted to beat the Viet Cong lest Communism ravage Southeast Asia and subvert the American ideal of global democracy, while others condemned the war as a futile waste of lives, energy, and national resources. No national policy emerged: we neither fought...
...American people were divided on the war. Any democracy should respect, indeed welcome, a diversity of public opinion. But the tragedy of Vietnam was that while America vainly groped for a national consensus, while people invoked political ideals to justify the terrible violence, our soldiers ravaged a foreign land with the most gruesome display ever of the high technology of death. We almost destroyed an entire culture. Why? Does anyone really know...