It is probably no secret that I admire and love Gen. George Smith Patton. As a boy, I watched the film from which the above clip was taken. While I now realize the intended efforts of the media and Hollywood to malign Gen. Patton's character and portray him as a crude savage, my reading and study has shown me the truth about the courageous man and his unselfish legacy.

I also admire the Roman Empire. Again, I was taught in my high school and college classes that ancient classical Rome was a brutally oppressive regime that dominated the world, spread slavery, slaughtered millions and died at the hands of people longing for freedom. Bullshit.

The parallels, however, between ancient Rome and modern America are inescapable and disturbing. Both were/are immeasurably more beneficial than detrimental to humanity. Both sought/seek to advance human freedom through the spreading of a republican form of government. Both were/are centers of learning and technology that the world struggled/will struggle for years to emulate after their collapses.

And finally . . . most sadly . . . both collapsed/will collapse because their people lost/are losing their ethical compass.

We blame the inevitable collapse of Rome on Julius Caesar. The truth is that before he overthrew the Republic, greed and corruption had already become so woven into the Senate that recovery was impossible.

We blame the decaying state of our nation on the Democrats or Republicans. The truth is that before George W. Bush or Barack Obama, our own selfishness and apathy had turned over the keys of freedom to an unprincipled oligarchy.

I suppose that the men of Gen. Patton's generation were the last who understood self-sacrifice. And, having gained the peace of the world through their own blood, they grew tired of fighting. An uneasy truce with the evil of Communism was preferrable to more blood and death. A casual acceptance of FDR's socialism was easier than fighting to get back free markets and limited government. A blind eye turned toward their corruptly rebellious children was easier than struggling to instill in those children the same values that had enabled them to defeat Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan.

Part of me thinks they are the Greatest Generation. Part of me thinks they're guilty as hell . . . and so am I.

An old, dear friend of mine's father-in-law is a Marine who rose to the rank of colonel based upon a sterling combat record in World War II and Korea. At the age of 86, his family is preparing to say good-bye (of course, being a Marine, he and Death seem to have developed a working partnership that has so far proven to be to the Colonel's advantage).

Nevertheless, as I ponder this noble man's life and the lives of the many men like him, including Gen. Patton, who saved the world and our nation through war only to help lose it during the peace, I am left to reflect upon the greatness that was America and on the transient nature of even the best efforts of men.

All glory is indeed fleeting. For this reason, it should be offered to an eternal storehouse . . . so that even when the things of men pass away, the handprint of God will remain upon our work.