virtually all students as a first language in the 1940’s and 50’s, isrnnow a second language for the majority of students in the elementaryrnschools. Although difficult to document, there is evidencernto suggest that nearly half of the elementary-school studentsrnare the children of illegal immigrants. I do not think thisrnis what the Marines fought for.rnBuddhist shrines, Muslim mosques, and Hindu temples dotrnthe city and its suburbs. In the greater Los Angeles area, therernare 600,000 Buddhists —ten times the number of Episcopaliansrn—and the largest Buddhist temple outside of Asia.rnThere are more than 200,000 Muslims—triple the number ofrnPresbyterians—and 70 mosques. There are some 130,000 Hindrnu s – m o r e than double the number of Methodists—and arndozen Hindu temples. The area is now home to 100,000 adherentsrnof Santeria, an Afro-Caribbean cult that practices animalrnsacrifice and voodoo-like rituals. I do not think this is whatrnthe Marines spilled their blood for.rnThe destruction of the American tribe is proceeding at arnrapid rate in Los Angeles. Race, language, culture, and religionrnare retreating under a withering fire. It may be happening inrnyour city—or it soon will. Welcome to non-white, non-Englishrnspeaking, non-Western, and non-Christian America. Instrumentalrnin this destruction is Hollywood—the mofion picturernand television industry. To the industry, white and Christian isrnbad. White, Christian, and male is very bad. White, Christian,rnmale, and conservative is abominable.rnDo not underestimate the power of the industry. A recentrnsurvey found that only 12 percent of American teenagers canrnname Abraham Lincoln’s hometown, but 74 percent can namernthe town where cartoon character Bart Simpson lives. Only 41rnpercent can name the three branches of government, but 90rnpercent know that Leonardo DiCaprio is the star of the moviernTitanic. Only two percent can name the chief justice of thernUnited States Supreme Court, but 95 percent can name the actorrnwho played the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on television. Onlyrntwo percent know that James Madison is considered the fatherrnof the Constitution, but 90 percent know that Tim Allen is thernstar of Home Improvement. Most astounding of all, perhaps, onlyrn21 percent know that the United States Senate has 100 members,rnbut 7 5 percent know that 90210 is the ZIP code for BeverlyrnHills.rnThis last point frightens me most of all. Isn’t figuring thernnumber of senators simple deduction? It all goes to show whatrnwatching five hours a day of TV—the teenage average—can dornfor our youth.rnNow, can you imagine asking these same teenagers aboutrnTarawa? I suspect fewer than one percent could even identifyrnit. Would the names William Deane Hawkins, William Bordelon,rnAlexander Bonnyman, or David Shoup mean anythingrnto them? Those four Marines won the Medal of Honor for takingrnthat speck of real estate in the Pacific. Three of them diedrndoing it.rnHollywood used to do a fair job with such subjects—and wernwere the good guys. Everyone knew about Jimmy Doolittle’srnraid on japan—Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo; and the Marines destioyingrnthe vaunted Japanese jungle fighters on that stinking,rnrotting, malarial-infested island of Guadalcanal—Guada/cdnd/rnDiary. We all knew about the five Sullivan brothers fightingrnand dying in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal—T/ze FightingrnSullivans; Claire Chennault and his P-40 pilots performingrnheroic feats in China and Burma—T/ie Flying Tigers; the 8thrnAir Force in death-defying missions in the skies over Germanyrn—Twe/ve O’clock High; Anthony McAulliffe replyingrn”Nuts!” to the German demand for the surrender of the lOIstrnAirborne at Bastogne—an event in Battleground and in severalrnother movies, including Patton; the Marines raising the flag onrnMt. Suribachi—T/ie Sands oflwo Jima; and little Audie Murphyrnleaving hundreds of enemy dead in his wake—To Hell andrnBack.rnMovies portraying white males in heroic roles in actualrnhistorical events—unless somehow they involve a politicallyrncorrect theme—are nearly non-existent today. A goodrnfriend of mine, Col. Ed Ramsey, went into the bush when thernAmerican surrender occurred at Bataan. Ramsey was a youngrnlieutenant in the 26th Cavalry at the time and joined a handfulrnof other American officers who decided that they would sliprnthrough the lines and organize Filipinos for guerrilla warfarernagainst the Japanese invaders.rnEventually, Ed Ramsey commanded 40,000 guerrillas andrnbecame Japanese Lt. Gen. Hideo Baba’s most-wanted man.rnGen. Baba offered the equivalent of a million dollars in today’srnmoney for information on the whereabouts of Ramsey, but nornFilipino, including those captured and tortured to death by thernJapanese, ever betrayed him. To the Filipinos, Ramsey wasrntheir leader, their hero.rnRamsey spent three years in the jungles of the Philippinesrnand wreaked havoc on the Japanese. He came close to deathrnon several occasions. What he did in those three years is mindboggling.rnBy the time MacArthur retumed, Ramsey was terriblyrndebilitated from wounds, disease, and malnutrition. Hernhad lost nearly 40 percent of his body weight and weighed onlyrna hundred pounds, but the skeletal Ramsey, by then a major,rnmanaged to stand at attention while MacArthur promoted himrnto lieutenant colonel and pinned medals on his chest. Ramseyrnspent the next two years in VA hospitals recovering.rnYou would think that Ed Ramsey’s story would make a greatrnbook—and you would be right. In 1991, after years and years ofrnwriting and stopping, putting the project aside, and then startingrnagain, Lt. Ramsey’s War was published. I was at the Filipinornconsulate in Los Angeles for the official launching of the book.rnThe Filipino consulate was an appropriate venue becausernRamsey’s decorations from the Philippine government are secondrnonly to MacArthur’s. It was an emotionally charged andrnpoignant event.rnPlenty of big brass from the United States were there, butrnmost telling were the dozens of Filipino veterans—men whornhad served under Ramsey—who managed to attend. Withrntears in their eyes, their voices too choked with emotion tornspeak, and many of them on unsteady legs, they stepped up torntheir beloved commander and embraced him. Some of themrnalmost collapsed.rnYou would think that Ed Ramsey’s story would make a greatrnmovie—and you would be right. A major studio bought thernrights to the book and paid big bucks to two screenwriters to preparerna script. A big-name director signed on to the project. Famousrnactors were interested in the various roles. Everythingrnwas good-to-go. Then there was a shakeup, totally unrelated tornthis particular project, of studio executives. All projects were reviewed.rnOne of the new executives looked at Lt. Ramsey’s Warrnand said: “Impossible. We can’t have a white man leading allrnthose people of color.”rnWell, the fact remains that Ed Ramsey did lead 40,000 Filipinos,rnand he helped deliver the islands from the Japanese,rn18/CHRONICLESrnrnrn