Time Magazine prepared a list of the 10 most influential people
  of the century in each field to mark the end of the century. The
  10 most influential scientists, politicians, entertainers, sports
  figures, musicians, artists, and industrialists. This month they
  published the 10 most influential people (overall) of the century.
  They named "the American GI" the most influential person of the
  century.  It is the only one that is not a single individual.
 
  General Powell wrote the introduction to the award.
 

 
  As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, I referred to the men
  and women of the armed forces as "G.I.s." It got me in trouble
  with some of my colleagues at the time. Several years earlier,
  the Army had officially  excised the term as an unfavorable
  characterization derived from the designation "government issue."
 
  Sailors and Marines wanted to be known as sailors and Marines.
  Airmen, notwithstanding their origins as a rib of the Army, wished
  to be called simply airmen. Collectively, they were blandly referred
  to as "service members." I persisted in using G.I.s and found I was
  in good company. Newspapers and television shows used it all the time.
  The most famous and successful government education program was known
  as the G.I. Bill, and it still uses that title for a newer generation
  of veterans. When you added one of the most common boy's names to it,
  you got G.I. Joe, and the name of the most popular boy's toy ever,
  the G.I. Joe action figure.  And let's not forget G.I. Jane.  G.I.
  is a World War II term that two generations later continues to conjure
  up the warmest and proudest memories of a noble war that pitted pure
  good against pure evil and good triumphed.

 
  The victors in that war were the American G.I.s, the Willies and Joes,
  the farmer from Iowa and the steelworker from Pittsburgh who stepped
  off a landing craft into the hell of Omaha Beach.
 
  The G.I. was the wisecracking kid Marine from Brooklyn who clawed his
  way up a deadly hill on a Pacific island.
 
  He was a black fighter pilot escorting white bomber pilots over Italy
  and Germany, proving that skin color had nothing to do with skill or
  courage.
 
  He was a native Japanese-American infantryman released from his own
  country's concentration camp to join the fight. She was a nurse
  relieving  the agony of a dying teenager.
 
  He was a petty officer standing on the  edge of a heaving aircraft
  carrier with two signal paddles in his hands, helping guide a
  dive-bomber pilot back onto the deck.
 
  They were America.  They reflected our diverse origins. They were
  the embodiment of the American spirit of courage and dedication.
  They were truly a "people's army," going forth on a crusade to save
  democracy and freedom,to defeat tyrants, to save oppressed peoples
  and to make their families proud of them. They were the Private
  Ryans, and they stood firm in the thin red line.
 
  For most of those G.I.s, World War II was the adventure of their
  lifetime Nothing they would ever do in the future would match their
  experiences as  the warriors of democracy, saving the world from its
  own insanity. You can still see them in every Fourth of July color
  guard, their gait faltering but ever proud.
 
  Their forebears went by other names: doughboys, Yanks, buffalo
  soldiers, Johnny Reb, Rough Riders. But "G.I." will be forever
  lodged in the consciousness of our nation to apply to them all.
  The G.I. carried the value system of the American people. The
  G.I.s were the surest guarantee of America's commitment.
 
  For more than 200 years, they answered the call to fight the
  nation's battles.
 
  They never went forth as mercenaries on the road to conquest.
  They went forth as reluctant warriors, as citizen soldiers.
 
  They were as gentle in victory as they were vicious in battle.
  I've had survivors of Nazi concentration camps tell me of the joy
  they experienced as the G.I.s liberated them: America had arrived!
  I've had a wealthy Japanese businessman come into my office and
  tell me what it was like for him as a child in 1945 to await the
  arrival of the dreaded American beasts, and instead meet a smiling
  G.I. who gave him a Hershey bar. In thanks, the businessman was
  donating a large sum of money to the USO.  After thanking him, I
  gave him as a souvenir a Hershey bar I had autographed. He took
  it and began to cry.
 
  The 20th century can be called many things, but it was most
  certainly a century of war. The American G.I.s helped defeat
  fascism and communism. They came home in triumph from the
  ferocious battlefields of World Wars I and II.  In Korea and
  Vietnam they fought just as bravely as any of their predecessors,
  but no triumphant receptions awaited them at home. They soldiered
  on through the twilight struggles of the cold war and showed what
  they were capable of in Desert Storm. The American people took
  them into their hearts again.
 
  In this century hundreds of thousands of G.I.s died to bring to
  the beginning of the 21st century the victory of democracy as the
  ascendant political system on the face of the earth. The G.Is
  were willing to travel far away and give their lives, if necessary,
  to secure the rights and freedoms of others. Only a nation such as
  ours, based on a firm moral foundation, could make such a request
  of its citizens. And the G.I.s wanted nothing more than to get the
  job done and then return home safely. All they asked for in
  repayment from those they freed was the opportunity to help them
  to become part of the world of democracy-and just enough land to
  bury their fallen comrades, beneath simple white crosses and Stars
  of  David.
 
  The volunteer G.I.s of today stand watch in Korea, the Persian Gulf,
  Europe and the dangerous terrain of the Balkans. We must never see
  them as mere hirelings, off in a corner of our society. They are our
  best,and we owe them our full support and our sincerest thanks.
 
  As this century closes, we look back to identify the great leaders
  and personalities of the past 100 years. We do so in a world still
  troubled, but full of promise. That promise was gained by the young
  men and women of America most important people of the 20th century
  must stand, in singular who fought and died for freedom. Near the
  top of any listing of the honor,the American G.I.
 

  General Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, now
  chairman of America's Promise
 

Source: stephen_terrio

To:  Susiea1114@aol.com  

Song Tttle:The Great Defenders
As Recorded By Lee Greenwood In 1992
W&M By Dan Bradley & Joanne Bradley
Sequenced By Ron Tilden