The tragedy of Pearl Harbor was avenged by the glorious Battle of Midway. The conquest of France was followed by the Battle of Britain. The Nazi march eastward ground to a halt in Stalingrad.
Sleek war machines fought on land, in the air and at and under the sea. Fields of grass or snow, forests of firs or jungle, deserts and cities were all battlegrounds. Heroes and heroines made names for themselves.
The struggle of good against evil is rare in history yet it was the struggle of World War 2. The regime of evil was ruled by an eccentric mastermind and its forces commanded by officers in stylish uniforms. Mad science and unbelievable atrocities were policy.
Reality is dysfunctional and its greatest moment is no exception. The war of good against evil gave way to a war kept cold by the threat of mutually assured destruction. The flamboyant villainy of Hitler gave way to the petty ambitions of bureaucrats and oligarchs. Battles are now police actions in lands barely worth fighting for.
World War 2 was a fictional war of good against evil as a real war. For all its death and destruction humanity thrived because of it. Sadly, its legacy and eventual successor shall be to our needless ruin.
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