All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us...
That's what Ronald Reagan did. That's what George Bush is doing. We are all called to live in different times. And the test of who we are is how we live up to those times.
I remember the dark days of the Carter Presidency. I was in college and those were perhaps some of the happiest times of my life. At the same time, they were some of the darkest years for our country.
I'm even old enough to remember JFK's funeral. I was five.
But, like Bear said, I don't remember WWII or the Depression. There are many brave men and women who have gone on before us.
The best we can do is to try to honor their memory by the way we face the challenges presented to us.
I was a bitty lad then :) I was just old enough to remember everyone complaining about inflation all the time when Carter was President. That and the Iran Hostage Crisis--those are my two strongest memories of Carter.
I was busy getting ready for my second trimester. :P
I was ten and the most astounding thing about that whole week was when I saw Jack Ruby shoot Lee Harvey Oswald LIVE on NBC. It was one of those situations that you see it, but you don't believe that's what you saw.
I experienced the same thing when I saw the plane fly into the second of the Twin Towers. I was seeing it, but I wasn't believing it!