TODAY – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:  Today marks the 73rd anniversary of the formal end of World War II.  On this day in 1945, Japan signed the instruments of surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay. 

On the weekend when Senator John McCain is buried, let us remember that his grandfather, Vice Admiral John Sidney McCain, was aboard the Missouri that day, observing the ceremony.  He died of a heart attack three days later, and was posthumously promoted to admiral.

In each generation we go through the ritual of disparaging the young, and wondering whether today's youth would meet the challenge that culminated in that surrender.  It is sometimes discouraging to see the antics on college campuses and the apparent contempt for patriotism among the new, "educated" generation. 

We should have more confidence.  Despite the destructiveness of the sixties generation, despite the attempts by the hard left to disparage this country, we still have a cadre of young people willing and able to serve.  And behind them are other young people who, if called upon, will acquit themselves well.  Our volunteer forces today probably comprise the best military force we have ever fielded.  And most of America is more like Kansas or South Carolina than Manhattan or Beverly Hills. 

It is up to us to provide the leadership that will guard our freedoms and our independence, and finally reform a failing educational system that could indeed bring our country to its knees.  Ronald Reagan warned that we're always one generation away from losing our freedoms.  That is the challenge we should think about on this 73rd anniversary of one of America's greatest triumphs.

September 2,  2018