MERIDIAN — “Civility, service, family,” award-winning cartoonist Marshall Ramsey wrote in the starry sky of his pictorial tribute to the late President George H.W. Bush.
“Today, we remembered a president and what he was capable of being,” Ramsey wrote last week in a discussion of the cartoon. He noted Bush’s overwhelming, and mutual, familial love. He noted his ardent civility. And he noted Bush’s purposeful commitment to service after two brushes with death, one from Japanese anti-aircraft fire.
At his father’s poignant funeral, former President George W. Bush said, “Dad taught us the public service is noble and necessary, that one can serve with integrity and hold true to the important values like faith and family.”
Author and former news anchor Tom Brokaw coined the phrase “the greatest generation” in his book of the same name about veterans who served in World War II, an accomplished generation composed of heroes as well as ordinary citizens.
Ramsey’s chosen attributes to highlight — civility, service and family — fit Bush and others I hold dear from that generation. Bush’s great friend, the late Congressman G. V. “Sonny” Montgomery, was of similar nature and character. Sonny was a man of strong faith and integrity renowned for his positive patriotism and commitment to stay the course on any major undertaking. He loved people and had an uncanny ability to relate to those from all walks of life. He was particularly committed to serve every veteran and active duty soldier.
I was blessed to have a father from that generation with such traits. Oh, he was no hero or noted leader, he was just a humble citizen who served in the war and was civil in the most difficult times to people from all walks of life. He was committed to serving his fellow man and had that overwhelming and mutual love with family and friends.
“We’re supposed to be snarky and pick social media fights with people who slight us,” wrote Ramsey. “That’s the way of the 21st century, right?”
“After watching the funeral today, I don’t think so,” he concluded.
Thanks, Marshall, for the reminder of what we Americans have been and are capable of being ... no, what we should be.
• Bill Crawford is a Republican former state lawmaker from Meridian.
