Memo from 10,000 ft

Memo from 10,000 ft

At 10,000 feet, air pressure is bad for the brain.  Mountain climbers who ascend this or more altitudinous heights will show, some investigators say, structural brain changes. This plane is pressurized to about 8500 ft, meaning that the pressure is only marginally harmful to the human brain. Still, there will be more cardiac events and strokes among travelers at this height than the normal population.  Because jet fuel is expensive, planes are flying even higher than before to take advantage of less drag, so the problem will probably get worse--a new type of head injury to take the focus off football.

Yet, flying is the only and best way to get back to Panama City from a sojourn on Long Island for a few days, minus a few brain cells.  As I look out the window, I think about the fliers from world war two, not only enduring 25000 feet or more with poorly pressurised cabins, but freezing cold, cramped surroundings as well as enemy fire. Maybe its a Memorial Day hangover, but the sacrifice of that generation in the forties remains astonishing. 

At a gym in New York a man, his name is Mike, described being captured at the Battle of the Bulge. He is about ninety now, was 20 at the time, and a sergeant after his commanding officer was killed by a sniper. He said the first day there were 2000 American losses. He feels great compassion and concern for the soldiers now in Afghanistan--"they are taking a beating."

Mike said the Germans were coming like madmen from the forest. "We had no air cover," he said, with the same plaintive voice he might have used at the time, throwing his arms out in exasperation..  His voice sounded like he was back in 1943 as he shook his head and hung up a towel.

The Memorial Day parade in Rockville Centre was a bit toned down from the days of my youth. Then, each little league team would walk as a group, to end up at Hickey Field.Back there were about 25 teams, and every one of us had a flannel uniform,hand sewn  lettered jackets, and thelong elastic split stockings of old time uniforms. Today's parade, a few dozen, at most, players, marched along in what looked like budget nylon uniforms. Perhaps a sign of the times, perhaps a sign of baseballs waning in popularity, perhaps a less spirited or ambitious local government. The fire department shone, though—local heroes in a town that lost more individuals in 9-11 than any other in New York.

I read, while waiting at the terminal, that a newsman or commentator has gotten into hot water for saying that not all fallen soldiers are heroes. Apparently this goes against the grain of popular sentimentalizing, particularly on Memorial day. Shouldn't any American who is injured while serving his country be considered a hero?. Yes but even amongst solders there is, or maybe is ( since I have never been in the military), a differentiation between those who are the actual fighters versus those who are in supply, or on the field but decline to take part in the actual firestorm, My own feeling is that it is brave to fight for ones country, but calling every soldier a hero can be a ploy for older men and women to bamboozle teens to enlist and risk their tails for whatever adventure politicians, and generals, and business people cook up.