Former Yankees Great Hank Bauer dies - the definition of bravery and sacrifice, in war and peace

Hank Bauer - former Yankee and former Orioles manager - died today. Below is but a PART of his obituary, but a very important part. It tells of the sacrifices the most important Americans made during World War II, a time apparently the opposite of today. (A follow up after the obituary) It reads, in part, as follows:

Bauer enlisted in the Marines shortly after Pearl Harbor and saw action in a number of battles in the Pacific, including Okinawa and Guadalcanal, according to Hall of Fame archives. He earned two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.

Bauer was wounded at Okinawa, hit in the left thigh by shrapnel in his 53rd day on the island.

"We went in with 64 and six of us came out," Bauer said.

After he was discharged, Bauer signed with the Yankees minor league affiliate at Kansas City and after two .300 seasons there, he moved to New York in 1948. A year later, Casey Stengel became the manager and Bauer moved into the lineup as the Yankees began their run.

In World War II, everyone sacrificed for a war that brought together all Americans in courage, not fear. Famous baseball players took detours from careers that offered them fame and money and enlisted to serve their country. So did famous actors and sons and daughters of the rich and famous. They united under FDR who said, "All we have to fear is fear itself." And they left successful careers and dear families to ALL serve their country, rather than talk about how others should fight a war FOR them. One, was my father, who drove the landing ducks at Omaha Beach on D-Day.

In current times, we are pushed into war, not lead, by a President who provokes us to "Fear everything" and offers division among the population, rather than unity. He is rallied around by pundits who call themselves newspeople, yet do no investigative reporting, only regurgitation of party lines. Our "leaders" and pundits and their children lead pampered lives, and sit back as others fight for them. Yet they call for more battle. I speak, of course, of the Iraq War, not the war with Al Qaeda, who now comfortably reside in Pakistan, untouched.

My father, who served proudly, always told me to beware of, as he said it, "The guys who say, 'let's you and him fight.' " Well, through fear, our current politicians continue to say "Let's you and him fight," while they sit back and stoke the fire of that fear in our citizenry, allow their former companies to cash in on that fear, and spare their own children the indignity of seeing the battlefield for what they told us all is a necessary war.

Our personalities of today who call for war do not follow in the footsteps of honorable men like Hank Bauer, and enlist themselves to go and fight what they call the necessary war. They say, "Let's you and HIM fight."

In the last real necessary war, men like Hank Bauer (and women) gave up their lives of privilege, showed bravery, and united together and allowed others to unite behind them, never questioning what made America great.

Thank God for people like Hank Bauer, and let's hope that our current Hank Bauers in Iraq and Afghanistan will either be honored by our President and politicians by calling for like sacrifices of all of our citizenry, including their own families, or that our Hank Bauers be spared an unnecessary war by someone who prefers to say, "Let's you and him fight." God rest Hank Bauer, an honorable man.