Yes, a hero, but with so many other facets…
Well, I’ve been thinking. Mama just finished her book, a biography of Charles Lindbergh, and she is walking around huffing and puffing about his part in trying to dissuade the United States from entering the war (ie helping England and several other events) when Hitler was stomping on most of Europe and clearly had plans for more stomping wherever he could find it.
I was sorry to hear this. Let’s call him Charles, and Charles was clearly a talented, directed, intelligent, motivated flyer of airplanes and indeed the pathfinder to an eventual moon landing, but oh, boy, was he a doozie when it came to social graces and interpersonal relationships!
Let’s just say that mama is convinced that he was a bit of a sociopath, even if he did have a fairly intelligent and adoring wife who might have steered him in a different direction if she only could have convinced him of ANYTHING at all. Like perhaps not creating seven children with other “wives”! If she had only known…but he was very good at keeping things to himself.
He was also not a very good listener. That which he did not wish to hear, he ignored. He was single-minded and firm in his beliefs that Hitler was going to win, no matter what, and that the rest of Europe should just…shall we say…bend over and give him anything he wanted. Hitler, that is. But Hitler had fed him lies about Germany’s air force, which Charles, unfortunately, believed. Big mistake. But American not entering the war?
No way, Jose. Not the Americans, even though there were certainly those who felt, erroneously, that isolationism was the only path.
Mama was not aware that so many of the events leading up to WWII involved Lindbergh, but that time in history is of great interest to her and she has read a lot about it, especially the fabrication of the atomic bomb and its consequences, and now Lindbergh’s story has really topped them all.
When she read that the very first stomp by the Furher’s boots was the subjugation of Czechoslovakia, HER ANCESTORS, she really starting fuming. And when Poland was turned over to Hitler by its allies, oh, boy!!!
There are no words for that man. The worst words one can imagine are not bad enough for what he did to German Jews and any others he could eliminate. But that time in history was such a turning point for so many countries, and it continues to fascinate mama. Still, I get the feeling she is up to here with Charles, regardless of his amazing feats, and may have to take a break very, very soon.
I’m going to lend her my Millions of Cats. Now THAT’S worth reading!
Grrrrr…the stuff in that book made me mad, too.
Millions of Cats by Wanda Gag? ’tis very good and there are millions of them!
Lots of war hero cats here Loulou http://www.purr-n-fur.org.uk/featuring/war01.html
There was a TV programme on a week or so ago in the UK where all the characteristics you tell us about Mr Lindbergh were mentioned, along with a suspicion that he may have been involved in the “kidnapping” of his little son.
It’s funny how heroes turn out innit
Luff
Mungo & Jet
OMG…involved in the kidnapping? I don’t think that’s true as he was devastated. He went after the perpetrators but was duped by a man who took money from him. Very sad. Interesting program…sorry I missed it.
We think reading about cats would be much better. 🙂
Yes, and think of all the cats in literature who were heroes!!! During WWII there were several and they were NEVER mentioned by that guy.
Yes, we’d like to read your book too, Loulou.
Still working on it…but you will get one when it happens.