Great article! I remember watching the American hockey team win over the Soviets and then beat Finland for the gold. We were in the midst of the Carter years of malaise and depression. Iranian mullahs had taken Americans hostage less than four months earlier, in November 1979, making America appear weak. The Soviets quickly attacked and took Kabul in a December 1979 invasion, making them appear even stronger. Carter's failed rescue attempt of the hostages in April 1980 dampened the good feelings from our Olympic hockey victory. I served with the 1-1 Cav on what was then the Czech border during the summer of 1980 (along with a short stint on the West German border). It was depressing to experience the Iron Curtain and what, by all appearances, was an overpowering Soviet force. I remember a Catholic priest, an Army chaplain, giving a homily about a man who had successfully escaped across the wall. But after celebrating his freedom, the man soon overwhelmed by the contrast of his new existence: Coming from material impoverishment caused him to recoil at the moral license around him, saying, "Had I grown up in the West, I would have died from temptation in a day." That priest was reminding us physically tough U.S. soldiers that the enemy we faced was far greater than the Soviets—it was our weak moral disposition and understanding of real freedom, that was keeping us from being true followers of Jesus.
Thanks for the comment. That gives even more accurate context that I had in the back of my head. I was born just after the victory, but remember the tail-end effects of the Cold War as I was growing up.
Great article! I remember watching the American hockey team win over the Soviets and then beat Finland for the gold. We were in the midst of the Carter years of malaise and depression. Iranian mullahs had taken Americans hostage less than four months earlier, in November 1979, making America appear weak. The Soviets quickly attacked and took Kabul in a December 1979 invasion, making them appear even stronger. Carter's failed rescue attempt of the hostages in April 1980 dampened the good feelings from our Olympic hockey victory. I served with the 1-1 Cav on what was then the Czech border during the summer of 1980 (along with a short stint on the West German border). It was depressing to experience the Iron Curtain and what, by all appearances, was an overpowering Soviet force. I remember a Catholic priest, an Army chaplain, giving a homily about a man who had successfully escaped across the wall. But after celebrating his freedom, the man soon overwhelmed by the contrast of his new existence: Coming from material impoverishment caused him to recoil at the moral license around him, saying, "Had I grown up in the West, I would have died from temptation in a day." That priest was reminding us physically tough U.S. soldiers that the enemy we faced was far greater than the Soviets—it was our weak moral disposition and understanding of real freedom, that was keeping us from being true followers of Jesus.
Thanks for the comment. That gives even more accurate context that I had in the back of my head. I was born just after the victory, but remember the tail-end effects of the Cold War as I was growing up.