Bush 41: The defining symbol of what we should be

For some, there are no coincidences. Everything happens for a reason, divined by providence.

So it is with the death of former President George H.W. Bush on the eve of the 77th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

Bush 41 symbolized better than anyone the Greatest Generation — the qualities of American can-do-ism, honor, duty and devotion and service to family, others and country. 

And with his death, on the eve of that Day of Infamy, we are reminded that we cannot forget all that the Greatest Generation has contributed to making the United States the best and last Great Hope on Earth. 

Likewise, and sadly, with President Bush’s death, we are reminded as a nation that we are moving rapidly toward the end — the end of a generation that served as the pillars and exemplars of the best in American values.

As Bush 41 is laid to his final rest, it would be fitting to pray that we and future generations to come will never forget — not just the tragedy and sacrifices of Pearl Harbor and World War II, but that we will never forget George H.W. Bush as the defining symbol of what Americans should strive to be.

Bush enlisted in the Navy soon after Pearl Harbor when he was only 17 years old. In Jon Meacham’s biography of Bush, “The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush,” Bush recalled Dec. 8, 1941: “It was a different world altogether. It was a red, white and blue thing. Your country’s attacked, you’d better get in there and try to help.”

He lived that way in war and in peace. A model for all.