I have been writing about my life and my town for a long time if you follow me on a regular basis. I have shared my travels and my thoughts, some appreciated and some have brought condemnation. It gets harder and harder to write something that may pique your interest. I guess that is why the best paid people in Hollywood are the writers of the stories that we watch on TV and in the theaters.
Last week I was reminded, again, how the writing can touch you or show you of things that were important. It was a movie that was playing at Premiere Cinemas in Soledad. You may not even know about the theater. We sometimes get settled in our lives and when something different comes along we don’t even notice.
My bride told me that she had been given glowing reports of the theater, and since a movie that I had heard about was showing we decided to make a trip down to relax and enjoy the day. If you haven’t driven by or attended a movie in that theater, you have missed out on an experience.
Pardon me if I wander off the subject a little and tell you about that theater. It is a joy to attend a movie there, the place is almost brand new. Plenty of parking and very clean inside. There were lots of treats at the concession stand and a very friendly staff. I hope they build a following that will allow all of South County to watch the latest blockbuster hit. The seats are as comfortable as your favorite easy chair. I’m going to make it one of my favorite places to spend a few hours being entertained.
The movie that was showing happened to be on my bucket list and that made it easier to watch. “Reagan” was the title, and since I lived through that period of time I wanted to see if it followed my memories. I’m very happy to say it followed the life of the main character very close.
“Reagan” is all about the 40th President of our country and how he handled the closest we have ever come to nuclear war. If you weren’t alive during that time, it might be cool to see how one man saved us from nuclear war. At the same time, he convinced the Plutocrats that ran the Soviet Union that we would not be intimidated or frightened into Socialism. If you weren’t alive during this period, then you will get to see what true leadership is all about.
Reagan was the President of the United States of America from 1981 to 1989. Before that, he was Governor of the state of California who had been a movie star whose lights had flared and were dimming. He had been elected President because his opponents were not as well known. His personality was such that he just sort of made folks comfortable. Those were days fraught with chest beating and threats from the Soviet Union. It seemed that there was a new, more powerful nuclear threat every few days from both sides. President Kennedy had already convinced Premier Khrushchev that the United States would not hesitate to use whatever means necessary to protect our country.
The “Toadies,” who are ever present, even today, were just as visible. Each one had what they thought was the answer to any question and tried to make their ideas the ones that the President had to follow.
This was the period of the Soviet Union that was full of chest beaters and pride of their nuclear stockpile. They didn’t respect Reagan and thought of him as a movie star rather that a statesman. The truth of the matter is that Reagan had starred in the movies as “The Good Guy” so often, that he felt he was equal to any politico. There is one scene in the movie where a countdown was being shown as a moment before both counties released their nuclear arsenal. This is a seminal moment in the movie as it is a true depiction of how close we came to war. Not to spoil the movie, but they blinked and Reagan was hailed as a hero. But he did not stop there.
President Reagan went to Berlin. This great city was the last reminder of the terrible Second World War. The Germans had killed thousands of Russians and had lost thousands of their own people before the Russians had taken control of the city. Berlin had become a reminder to the world of how terrible the war was. Russia had stopped anyone from entering or leaving the city. They built a great wall completely around the city and controlled entry or exit with guns and bombs. Families were torn apart from each other and life had become pretty miserable for those caught behind the wall.
Things had gotten so bad that people were being shot if they tried to leave; bombs were planted in the dirt to stop the Germans from escaping the city. The wall became a reminder of who won the War and to the world that Russia was the winner. The wall became a sore spot to the entire world. I was fortunate or unfortunate enough to take a train from Mainz, Germany, while stationed in Germany, where I was allowed to travel to Berlin. I couldn’t wear my uniform or any symbol of where I was from, and we were watched closely and were told not to go near the wall. It was very sad.
We traveled in rail cars where the windows were covered. It looked as though the war was just finished, it wasn’t fun. When watching the movie I was reminded of how close we came to launching nuclear weapons during Reagan’s term. So when he uttered those famous words to Premier Gorbachev of the Soviet Union to “TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!” tears ran down my cheeks and I remembered why Ronald Reagan is one of my heroes.
God Bless America.
