On peace, war and feelings of past generations

"What were the feelings of area residents prior to the start of previous wars?"

That was a question that popped into my brain while I was putting together the story for this week's paper on the peace rally that was held March 1. The answer is certainly not a simple one, but beginning the process of discovery was a fairly easy task - check the archives of the local newspaper.

Some of those feelings are brought to light in the "Back Through the Years" article that is also part of this week's edition. Reading stories that were contained in issues of the Clinton County News near the start of the four major wars from the previous century was enlightening.

Obviously this little trip into the past barely scratches the surface. Breezing through history via the papers of a single news publication - and then compiling that information into a few brief paragraphs - seems almost disrespectful of the broad range of attitudes and opinions that were surely present at the actual time of the events.

It can serve as a gauge, however - an old-time barometer of sorts - that helps us measure today's concerns about the looming war in Iraq against the feelings that existed in 1918, 1941, 1950 and 1966.

Several of the newspaper articles from 1918 were particularly interesting. I can't imagine having someone serving as a "County Food Administrator," checking out how much flour and sugar is in the kitchen cupboards.

Of course in our era of packaged mixes and pre-made food, they might not find too much flour and sugar. Today's Food Administrator might need to check rations of frozen dinners and microwaveable staples.

The news item that carried the headline, "Every male alien enemy of 14 years and over of German birth must register," was also intriguing. Today, Muslims are coming under the same watchful eyes - as did our Japanese friends during World War II. The more things change, the more they stay the same, it seems.

What was especially interesting to me - from a journalistic standpoint at least - in reading issues from the first half of 1941 was the amount of space devoted each week in the paper to tracking the build-up for World War II. A weekly newspaper at that time, like the Clinton County Republican News, was much more than a source of local news. Area residents depended upon the "Republican-News" to receive information on national - and international - events.

Can you imagine checking out today's newspaper to find out what President Bush had talked about a week ago - as your first source of information? Our world has gotten considerably smaller in just a few short years, due in large measure to major changes in communication.

Reading issues at the start of the wars in Korea and Vietnam are interesting for the same reason - only in reverse. Little was written about the situations leading up to U.S. involvement in those arenas of the world - the local newspaper was more and more devoted to "local" stories. Readers were getting information on national events from other sources - war 'news' was relegated to snippets on who was wounded; who died.

If I would have moved forward in my research - checking bound volumes from 1991 - a different reporting style would have been visible. Names and addresses of service personnel who were part of Desert Storm can be found in those issues, as abundant as the yellow ribbons that adorned trees across Clinton County neighborhoods.

The list of addresses was updated on a weekly basis, courtesy of information provided by relatives whose sons and daughters were stationed in and around Kuwait. Our Desert Storm list was a very visible reminder - like the yellow ribbons - of the families here in Clinton County whose lives were touched as a result of that service to the nation.

Perhaps a similar listing will soon appear once again on these pages. A second Gulf War seems likely, although still not inevitable.

One can only hope and pray that if war comes, a listing of service personnel contains just names and addresses - not information on those who have been wounded or killed in action.

That's something we all can agree on.