Winston Churchill-- The British Bulldog. Wanted-- Dog Jokes.

Okay, I know this is a stretch, but I can't write about Memorial Day without talking about that British Bulldog himself, Winston Churchill. He is a hero of mine. A warrior, statesman, and scholar. I've waded through six volumes of his WWII memoirs. He wrote as well as he governed. I'm now reading the first volume of his History of the English Speaking Peoples. He also wrote about the wars in Sudan at the end of the 19th century. That's enlightening because of its relevance to today's conflict in the Middle East/Northern Africa. It's also interesting because Winston Churchill describes a famous charge in the teeth of the Sudanese enemy without really mentioning his part in that valiant charge.

That's the thing about Churchill. Not only did he lead a nation that stood alone for years against the tyranny of Hitler, but he never flinched no matter what.

He'd stand atop of buildings in London while the Germans bombed. He fought in the trenches in WWI and Sudan. It took the King of England to stop him from being aboard ship on the coast of Normandy on D-Day.

Winston Churchill embraced his resemblance to a bulldog precisely because of the tenacious spirit the animal represented. Being compared to a bulldog in spirit is one thing. Being compared to a bulldog because you actually look like a bulldog is another. Nonetheless, Churchill knew a good thing when he saw it. From 1939 to the end of 1941, Churchill and England stood alone against the monsters of the Axis. They probably saved the world in those two years.