2Oth CENTURY HEROES
by American Opinion Publishing, Inc.
copyright: 2000
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My family participates in a "Mystery Santa / Gift Theft" game every Christmas Eve. A few years back, I anonymously brought a copy of 20TH CENTURY HEROES for the game, hoping to swipe it for myself -- which I did. "Santa" knows what I like.
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20TH CENTURY HEROES is a fine book, featuring well-researched and nicely written profiles of "25 extraordinary individuals [who] helped steer the course of history away from the tyranny of the Total State." These people were GREAT GIRAFFES, not POLITICAL TURTLES! The book is loaded with photographs and 5 to 10 pages are dedicated to each hero.
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In his Introduction, Gary Benoit writes: "On the surface at least, the tragic history of the last century does not appear to offer much hope for the survival of our Christian-style civilization ... the 20th-century prologue to the new millenium could be described as the rise of the Total State -- the totalitarian "isms" (Communism, Nazism, Facism), under which the ruling elite exercise absolute power without any religious, moral, or legal constraints. ... Of course, none of the heroes honored in this book was perfect; all of them were sinners. Yet, by the grace of God, they were able to perform heroic deeds in spite of man's fallen nature and, in many cases, to rally their countrymen in defense of freedom."
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The 25 individuals are profiled under the following categories...
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MARTIAL VALOR:
Douglas MacArthur / George Patton / Draza Mihailovich / Henri Guisan
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STATESMANSHIP:
Chiang Kai-shek / Francisco Franco / Antonio de Oliveira Salazar / Syngman Rhee / Moise Tshombe / Augusto Pinochet / Robert Taft
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FAITH, COURAGE, CHARACTER:
Jozsef Cardinal Mindszenty / John Birch / Charles Lindberg / Ezra Taft Benson / Booker T. Washington
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SCHOLARSHIP, PHILOSOPHY, IMAGINATION:
Ludwig von Mises / G.K. Chesterton / C.S. Lewis / Taylor Caldwell / Yoey O'Dogherty
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FREEDOM ACTIVISM:
John T. Flynn / Martin Dies / Joseph McCarthy / Dan Smoot / Robert Welch
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I have an affinity for any book that sets the record straight concerning the calumny STILL being upchucked by the mass media about Senator Joseph McCarthy -- (TV Guide's Dec. 5-11, 2004 issue featured 'The 100 Most Memorable TV Moments!' Coming in at #39, "HAVE YOU NO SHAME?" [6/9/54]: "At the Army-McCarthy hearings, the lawyer's question for the senator finally shows who the real enemy is." *Anybody who believes that is in dire need of deprogramming!)
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Although the man died before I was born, I feel an intense pain in my heart for McCarthy, and embarrassment for how this country turned its back on that truly heroic patriot. America was not worthy of him. Even less so now.
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'The New American' magazine (an organ of the John Birch Society) is quite possibly the finest current events periodical in the country (see [link> www.thenewamerican.com). Since these essays first appeared in its pages, it is no surprise that John Birch and Robert Welch are included.
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20TH CENTURY HEROES will be a valuable research tool in the bookshelf of any real American patriot concerned with the struggle between liberty and despotism, between the free enterprise system and State-controlled abject collectivism. However, my mind being devoid of Panglossian delusions, I am convinced that this book and the great truths it explores will remain largely ignored by this and future generations and to the detriment of global societies!
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~ Stephen T. McCarthy
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Al Bondigas here. I remember when you won that in the Christmas exchange game. sounds like a great read. I sure do miss all of the wonderful times we all had at Christmas time. Even though we were poor, we were truly blessed.
ReplyDeleteYep, Christmas was always wonderful. Childhood was magical. Our twenties were a bit wobbly and out-of-focus, but did we ever have a blast? "Good times, go-oo-od times!"
DeleteI've always been glad I came away with this book. It has some great, quotable stuffs in it. In fact, just yesterday in the comment section of someone else's blog I used a C.S. Lewis quote that I took directly from this book. It's still serving me all these years later.
~ D-FensDogG
Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends
That's quite an array of people covered in this book. And I guess any book that gives recognition to Yoey O'Dogherty has to be a worthwhile read.
ReplyDeleteThe lady who lives next store to me has the last name of Franco. I wonder if she's any relation to the late Spaniard. As a kid I don't know how many Spanish stamps with the image of Franco on them I had, but those things were ubiquitous. Every stamp assortment had the green Franco stamp. It was always a relief to get one of the other colors. Now I have a yearning to look back in my stamp collection to see how many different colors of Franco stamps I have.
Lee
Tossing It Out
LEE, nice shout-out for Yoey O'Dogherty. It's a sad commentary on the American people that he has been so forgotten. How one who gave SO MUCH could be relegated to a minor footnote in obscure history books is beyond me!
DeleteI never collected stamps, but I was the first kid in my neighborhood to collect all 12 Hangovers!
I later traded my Hangover collection to a neighbor friend, Greg Ford, for a jar of LSD-laced Tang (like the astronauts drank) and his scratched up copy of 'Incense And Peppermints' by The Strawberry Alarm Clock.
~ Stephen
Would you happen to have any of that Tang left? I could use a good trip.
DeleteLee
Man, I WISH!
DeleteI drank half of it in one week, and the rest of it I traded to the local bully, Jerry Doggett, for a month of no beatings.
~ Stephen
Doggone that Doggett anyway.
DeleteDon't forget to vote on my BOTB!
By the way, do they still sell Tang in the grocery store. Not that I'd want any, but I'd like to look at it on the shelf. Take a picture maybe.
Lee
Yep, I already checked on your Battle and will cast a vote tomorrow over morning coffee.
DeleteI'm pretty sure they do still sell Tang. I don't think they advertise it as the astronaut's choice anymore, but I think it's still floating around on store shelves.
They also still sell orange flavored Kool-Aid, which I suspect is the same thing in different packaging.
~ D-FensDogG
Ferret-Faced Fascist Friends