Prior to reading this book, I had not read an account of a family or individual who lived in East Germany while the wall was in place. I found this true story fascinating.  

"This is just something we have to go through. We will be fine. We are strong.  We have each other. Nothing will break us, neither this nor anything else.  This family has much to be proud of. We are far above all of this" (Quoting "Oma", the matriarch of the family, pgs. 166, 167).

"No one knows what the future holds, but I want the family to stay strong.  Keep up the Family Wall.  Lean on and protect one another no matter what may come.  No one can say what will happen or if things will change, but all I know is, justice will win.  Truth will prevail and justice will win.  We have survived East Germany with our dignity intact.  This life has not always been easy, but it has not made us bend.  It has actually made us stronger.  And we are strong because our souls are free" (Quoting Oma, pgs. 214, 215).

"Let us concede at the outset that, in a free society, freedom will frequently be used badly.  Freedom, by definition, includes freedom to do good or evil, to act nobly or basely.  Thus we should not be surprised that there is a considerable amount of vice, licentiousness, and vulgarity in a free society.  Given the warped timber of humanity, freedom is simply an expression of human flaws and weaknesses. But if freedom brings out the worst in people, it also brings out the best.  The millions of Americans who live decent, praiseworthy lives deserve our highest admiration because they have opted for the good when the good is not the only available option. Even amidst the temptations that a rich and free society offers, they have remained on the straight path.  Their virtue has special luster because it is freely chosen.  The free society does not guarantee virtue any more than it guarantees happiness.  But it allows for the pursuit of both, a pursuit rendered all the more meaningful and profound because success is not guaranteed: it has to be won through personal striving."

(Dinesh D'Souza, What's So Great About America?, pg. 190.)

I have been wanting to read this book for years and I finally did.  I regret that I did not read it while my father was still living, as I would have liked to talk with him about it.

After coming out of a horrible economic depression, the youth of the nation were called upon to step up and fight, and they did so valiantly.  Thousands more stayed at home, working in factories and other fields of employment, to cover the loss of the workforce.  The entire nation sacrificed.

The nation turned to its young to carry the heaviest burden, to fight in enemy territory and to keep the home front secure and productive.  These young men and women were eager for the assignment.  They understood what was required of them, and they willingly volunteered for their duty (pg. 3). When the United States entered World War II, the U.S. government turned to ordinary Americans and asked of them extraordinary service, sacrifice, and then returned home to lead ordinary lives (pg. 15).

The World War II years will forever be testimony to America’s collective and individual resistance to tyranny, its awesome and ingenious industrial machinery, and what may be its greatest strength, the common values of its richly varied population when faced with a common threat (pg. 183).

Looking back, I can recall that the grown-ups all seemed to have a sense of purpose that we evident even to someone as young as four, five, or six.  Whatever else was happening in our family or neighborhood, there was something greater connecting all of us, in large ways and small (pg. 11).

It is not surprising, I suppose, that the horrors of war give birth to a new generation of good Samaritans.  Young men and women who have been so intensely exposed to such inhumanity often make a silent pledge that if they ever escape this dark world of death and injuries, this universe of cruelty, they will devote their lives to good works. Sometimes the pledge is a conscious thought.  Sometimes it is a subconscious reaction to their experiences (pg. 25).