I recently received a call from a lady asking if I thought Hurricane Harvey was God’s judgment on America. I think it is just the opposite. After weeks of stories on racial division and hatred from the events in Charlottesville, Virginia, it is encouraging to watch Americans selflessly reach out to help their neighbors and fellow citizens in a time of disaster. Watching the flotilla of johnboats, fishing boats, rafts and even Jet Skis helping evacuate trapped citizens is inspiring. Frankly, it reminded me of the recent movie “Dunkirk” where countless everyday citizens rushed across the English Channel to rescue British troops stranded in deadly peril in France.
To be honest, seeing how Americans are reaching out to help each other revives in me the belief that America is, at heart, a truly good nation. The vicious rhetoric and the violent conflicts at Charlottesville do not reflect who we really are as a people. Instead, Charlottesville represents everything Americans fought against in the last century. As a soldier in Germany, I twice visited the concentration camp at Dachau and saw what unbridled hate is capable of. I know what Nazism looks like and it is not America.
The scenes I see on TV right now show me the real America. Through the grimness of this great disaster I see a light that shines on the America I believe in, and the message it illuminates touches my heart. Real Americans are not about hurling hate but about helping hands.
Robert L. Van Elsberg Jr.
Enterprise, Ala.
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