Was my mother unaware of the connections and implications? (My dad was taking fifth-grade me to anti-war marches at the same time.) As someone who grew up during World War II, did she intuitively support “our boys overseas,” no matter how dubious their cause appeared in 1969? Or as a public school music teacher was she crazy like a fox, knowing that such selections would placate a certain sort of parent?
Just how many 60 year olds saw combat in Vietnam, anyway? It’s the theme song of John Wayne’s widely-panned, pro-Vietnam war movie. Thanks to DuMez’s book, I was reminded of my warbling The Green Beretas my mom accompanied. Many now regard it as a weird right-wing cult.
But I also recall songs from Up With People - shiny, obsequious youth aligned with “ The Moral Re-Armament League” and endorsed by John Wayne and Pat Boone. Songs from The Sound of Music were our favorites. Still…Īs children, we would sit around the piano and sing with my mother. She really couldn’t qualify as sheltered or undiscerning. She lived in New York City, Seattle, Taipei, and Yokohama. My mother was an intelligent, articulate, and accomplished woman - valedictorian of her high school (Hull, 1946). (For those of you not up to speed on Iowa geography, I live in Pella, about five hours from Sioux County.) The county includes Sioux Center, Orange City, and several smaller towns, notably the hometowns of my parents. Their fears brought to mind my mother, who grew up about ten miles from Sioux Center, in Sioux County, Iowa. What struck me in the Times piece was the fear - deep anxiety, alarm, really - that they are under siege, that their way of life and values will not long endure, save the sure defense of President Trump.
Another person noted that “They never spoke of Jesus or Good News.” Others observed that the residents of Sioux Center who were interviewed came from the Netherlands Reformed and United Reformed congregations, the most conservative in a conservative town. Many people have noted its apparent (and uncredited?) reliance on DuMez’s book. Jason Lief, a resident of Sioux Center, wrote about it here on The Twelve. Another little cog spinning in my recent ponderings - last month’s New York Times piece, “ Christianity Will Have Power,” about Sioux Center, Iowa.
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