Q&A: Author discusses new book about conflicted nation
During an election year of epic guano proportions, conflict is part of doing business these days in America, a fact Suntree author Donald Gilleland duly noted in his latest book, “America: A Conflicted Nation.”
Gilleland has been around the world and back, so he has a firm grasp of how his favorite country stacks up. His long military service took him to 35 countries and 12 major islands. He has served in the three major branches of the Armed Forces — eight years in the Navy, 22 years commissioned in the Air Force, and seven years in joint assignments working with the Army.
His duties included service with the Joint Casualty Resolution Center, accompanying search and recovery teams throughout South Vietnam to locate, exhume and repatriate remains of servicemen killed in action.
He served seven years in the Pentagon and retired from the military in 1984 as chief of Air Force Public Affairs, Western Region, where his duties included coordinating Air Force cooperation with the movie and television industry.
During his civilian “second” career, Gilleland was corporate director of Public Affairs for General Dynamics Corporation.
He has had more than 500 op-ed articles published in magazines and newspapers across the United States, as well as in six other countries. In addition to “America: A Conflicted Nation,” he wrote “America; A Cultural Enigma,” “America: Where Great Things Happen” and “America: An Exceptional Nation.”
How do you begin researching your books?
Each book is different. Generally, I start with a theme and evolve to specifics.
With this book, I first thought a lot about what it’s like to have mixed feelings about something, which is generally what it means to be conflicted. Then I began to think about what kind of topics we tend to have mixed feeling about. For instance, as a nation we have very mixed feelings about immigration and the military. We are enormously proud of our immigrant history. After all, immigrants founded us as a nation. Yet we are very afraid to take in thousands of immigrants from the Middle East, particularly Syria, for fear there might be terrorists among them.
Also, while we tend to agree as a nation that we need a strong, world-class military, we don’t agree on how much of our national treasure should be spent on it, which creates incredible problems for our national leaders.
I tend to annotate my sources as I write. Because I was criticized by some folks for using too many footnotes in my first book, with my latest book I weaved sources into the material as I went along.
When did the idea of “A Conflicted Nation” take hold?
I actually started thinking about this book while I was writing my last book, “America: An Exceptional Nation.” It occurred to me while writing about many things I believe make us exceptional, that we tend to have mixed feelings about a lot of them. For instance, while many of our citizens are proud of how we extend our security blanket over other countries, they don’t care for the idea that we spend so much money to do it.
The same is true of our being a food basket for a lot of the world. While we are a generous and caring nation, it costs us a lot of money to feed so much of the world.
How do you keep up with the news?
I am a bit of a news addict. I watch Fox News during the day, and to get balance, I often switch over to CNN News, but I also watch the major network news programs, too, especially ABC Evening News with David Muir. I also read FLORIDA TODAY cover to cover every morning, and I read military magazines, such as Air Force Magazine and Military Officer Magazine.
How is the 2016 election stacking up conflict-wise?
The election is a great example of how conflicted Americans feel, probably because the two candidates are so unlikeable. A perfect example is how Hillary Clinton was expecting a coronation until Bernie Sanders came on the scene. He quickly went from being a nuisance to becoming a serious contender. Donald Trump was initially considered to be in the race just to get the publicity. It. shocked America when he defeated 16 other well-qualified contenders.
National elections are exciting events, yet this one has turned into a quandary. People don’t know what to do.
What would you change about America?
I would change very little about America. I love America, which is why I have written a series of four books about her. However, given a choice, I might restrict how long politicians could serve in office. Our founders never intended for politics to be a career field. They intended our leaders to be citizen servants, not career politicians.
I would keep the American values, which are envied worldwide. Americans tend to be religious, hardworking, resilient, generous, patriotic, pragmatic and mobile. Citizens from around the world want to migrate to America.
How optimistic are you about America?
I believe it is one of only a few countries that can hold out hope for the world in the 21st Century. America is unique in the world. No other country, can offer its citizens the wide range of opportunities that exist routinely for Americans. Even Vladimir Putin acknowledges that America stands alone as a world leader.
However, I do note that there seems to be a decline in two areas: morality and responsibility. We don’t seem to be as moral a nation as we were 50 years ago. Nearly 72 percent of blacks, 54 percent of Hispanics and 29 percent of whites are born out of wedlock, which means they are generally living in a single-parent family, usually a mother striving to make a living to support her kids. That is almost a sure ticket to poverty. I also note that a growing portion of our population seems reluctant to accept responsibility for their actions, ready to blame others for their failures.
Nevertheless, I am truly optimistic about our America. I have visited 35 countries on five continents and I have never seen any country I would rather live in than right here in the USA.
Get your copy today
Gilleland’s books are available through amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and booksamillion.com. For more, see donaldgilleland.com.
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