By Bob and Doris Habel

I am 74, my wife is 73, and we are afraid that the America we were born into, grew up in, were educated in, worked and established our life in and retired in is being taken away right before our very eyes.

The America we are talking about is the one that led the Allies to a victory over the Axis powers during World War II, that stood up against Communist aggression in situations and places like the Berlin Blockade, Korea, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam and others that finally led to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the destruction of communism in East Germany, Eastern Europe and even the Soviet Union.

It’s the America that sends its finest to stand in harm’s way today, to die, and to bring freedom to the oppressed. It’s the America that put men on the moon; the America that developed an economic system second to none based on private ownership, where individuals were encouraged to start and own their own companies; an America that created a steel industry, an auto industry, a mining industry, shipping and transportation industry that led the world; an economic system where workers had the right to organize with a secret ballot when voting for or against the formation of unions.

None of these were owned or controlled by the government. It was called free enterprise or good old capitalism. Health care was a problem. At first, it was rough and ragged. Most of it we paid for (we had no hospitalization when our first child was born, so we paid it all; and we also paid all our medical bills). But slowly it developed where it became part of a negotiated economic package. This was the America in which its leaders and the country itself had the respect of the rest of the world. Yes, we were the example. We were the light on the hill.

Were we perfect? No. Did we make mistakes? Yes. The glowing example would be the civil rights movement. It was a tough situation, but it changed for the better. It was not easy. People died, and that’s terrible. Yes, we remember the southern church where Klan members killed four girls; people from the north who went south to help people register to vote were shot, and their bodies dumped in some field; and, yes, we remember Kent State.

Segregation would be broken. No more “white” and “black” signs over water fountains or on restroom doors; segregation broken down in restaurants, on buses, in public schools and at universities. The list goes on. The result was more freedom acquired. Was the government involved? Yes. National Guard troops were used, but the government did not take control. In the end, troops when home; laws were passed to guarantee civil rights. The government was used the way our founders wanted it to be used, to ensure domestic tranquility.

We know that change takes place. America could not stay the way it was for us. Over the years there has been, for lack of a better term, a normal change. The economy has good times, it has slow times. Designs of cars, homes and clothes change. It’s like a normal progression.

We know these are not normal times. Like so many others, we have felt and been hit by the collapse of the economy. It is the change that is being forced upon us now and the speed of it that makes us afraid. Promises are being made and broken. There’s been government take-over of the car industry, the banking industry, and now health care. People are saying on TV that President Barack Obama is going to give me everything I need, a new kitchen and everything else. Does this not scare you?

People, we are losing our freedoms. This is socialism in its beginnings. Can we not see this? What are we going to do? Readers, I taught American history in our public school system for 35 years. When I would get to the discussion on World War II and we discussed how the dictators came to power, students would ask me, “Could the people not see what was happening and do something about it?” Well?

I have not even discussed the debt that can never be paid and the fact that we are leaving all this to our children and grandchildren. That’s another area we have not discussed, our grandchildren. What is happening to their country, their freedoms?

This is not the country our founders wanted us to have. Read “Common Sense,” read the Declaration of Independence, read the Preamble to the Constitution. I wonder if these are things our Congresspeople did not read, along with the health care bill and others that they say they don’t have time for, or say it’s too long.

I know that some who read this will call us alarmist or extreme rightist. That is your opinion, but I do not think so. My wife and I have been conservative but always used common sense. We look at the America that I described at the top of the article and it has given us all that we have in our retirement. It has provided the means for us to help our children and grandchildren. We are afraid that those things will not be there for them.

Last Memorial Day we watched the program on TV “Memorial Day from Washington, D.C.” As we watched the program we asked one another, “Where is that America, the America of ‘The Greatest Generation’ ” — the people who were so much a part of our life, and the America that shaped us. It’s not gone yet; but it’s going if we do nothing to stop it.

We are afraid.