Something That Really Matters

This is all in Japanese, and it's certainly not a big story. It's just a US Navy helicopter crew dropping off some food and water in Sendai, Japan, one of the areas hardest hit by the earthquake, tsunami and reactor problem. The roads to Sendai are blocked. The people there weren't expecting anyone or anything.

America and Americans take a lot crap for all the stuff we do that upset people. Sometimes it's justified, sometimes it isn't and sometimes reasonable people can differ. We're not perfect, but then again I don't remember ever claiming that we were. We're just a human as everyone else on this planet, and just as flawed.

Maybe our motives aren't always pure, but as Colin Powell once observed, all we ever asked for in return was a place to bury our dead. We could have conquered and annexed huge chunks of the world had we wanted to, but we never have.

There's never been a war or a disaster in the last 110 years - and probably longer than that - where there weren't groups of Americans, whether military or civilian, trying to do the right thing. Like in this video. A lot of Americans have died so that others might be free, or fed, or cared for.

That's a pretty noble thing. Profound really, because no other nation can make that claim. (Well, maybe Australia.)

And that is something we ought not ever forget.