Last Updated on July 2, 2022
A 100-year-old World War 2 veteran broke down in tears as he described the state of modern America, telling an interviewer with Tampa, Florida’s Fox 13 News that “this isn’t what we fought for,” warning that the country is “going to hell in a handbasket.”
Decorated Marine Corps World War 2 veteran Carl Dekel sat down with Tampa, Florida’s Fox 13 News for an interview to mark his 100th birthday. Dekel, who served in a machine gun company, was awarded the Silver Star during the war for gallantry in action. He calls the medal one of the military’s highest honors, his “pride and joy”, and displayed it on his uniform alongside his other honors during the interview.
“I’ve lived a good life,” Mr. Dekel told the Fox 13 interviewer of his 100 years on earth, remarking that over the years, he’s learned to appreciate the beauty of what people have learned to take for granted. “I sincerely belive in this whole world that everything is beautiful,” Dekel said, before expressing his grief over the current state of America and his concerns for the future, which moved him to tears.
“People don’t realize what they have. They bitch about it,” said Dekel. “Nowadays, I am so upset that the things we did, the things we fought for, and the boys that died for it are all going down the drain. Our country is going to hell in a handbasket. We haven’t got the country we had when I was raised, not at all. Nobody will have the fun I had. Nobody will have the opportunity I had. It’s just not the same. This is not what our boys – that’s not what they died for…This is not it,” Mr. Dekel went on in saying, as he began to break down in tears.
“I shouldn’t be worried be worried about it I guess, I’m 100 years old they say,” Mr. Dekel said towards the end of the interview. “Well I worry about it. Yes, I worry about it.”
