Confession time: I hope to look as young as Lou Bacigalupi when I’m 92. Heck, I wish I looked that young now, and I’m 52. But in meeting with the Vancouver nonagenarian, the important thing is that I hope to think as clearly as he does if I make it to his age.
Several weeks ago, The Columbian published a letter to the editor from Bacigalupi. Under the headline “Be The Greatest Generation II,” Bacigalupi implored 18- to 20-year-olds to register and vote.
“You now have the opportunity to make yourselves The Greatest Generation II,” he wrote. “Do you really want to make a difference? All of you collectively can be a powerful voting bloc this November. All of you who are 18, 19 or 20 right now should be registered to vote.”
It was an inspiring message, especially from somebody who served his country during World War II, participating in several beach landings and living to tell about it.
“I enlisted at 17, in 1943,” Bacigalupi told me. “The reason I went into the Coast Guard — my mother wouldn’t sign off for me to join the Army or Navy. She thought the Coast Guard would be safer, but they never told her which coast I would be guarding; turned out to be the entire Pacific Ocean.”
So, Bacigalupi served in the Coast Guard; left the service and started a career; raised five children with his wife, Isabelle, who died in 1996 after 47 years of marriage; and moved to Clark County about 15 years ago. He lives alone in a house in northwest Vancouver and gives every indication that he will be there for many more years.
Along the way, Bacigalupi says, he worked during the 1960s to get the voting age lowered. He handed out flyers, attended meetings and rallies, and was part of a movement to give young adults a voice in politics. That finally happened in 1971, when ratification of the 26th Amendment provided 18-year-olds with the vote.
Once the amendment was passed by Congress, it took 100 days to be approved by the requisite 38 states, the fastest ratification of any amendment in history. The argument was that if 18-year-olds were being sent to die in Vietnam, they should have a say in how the country is governed.
Those were, undoubtedly, tense times, and it can be comforting to think that if the United States could survive the Vietnam era, then we will make it through our current troubles.
Making their voices heard
Anyway, Bacigalupi’s message about voting and being engaged arrives at a poignant time. Young adults — particularly in the wake of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting — are making their voices heard.
And as it becomes evident that they could be a force in this year’s election — and many others to follow — it is all too easy to paint all members of a particular generation with a single brush. It is all too easy to assert that young voters are misinformed radicals, or that older voters are curmudgeons who fear change and like things just the way they are.
In that, Bacigalupi sees similarities — and differences — between now and the past. “Back then, they were involved more in protesting; today, they’re involved in more proactive stuff,” he said. “I’m glad to see them tell the politicians to get the hell out of their way. They’re the future of our country. That’s what we fought a war for; they’re entitled to make decisions and make their own mistakes.”
For his part, Bacigalupi is not especially partisan: “I am pissed off at both the Democrats and the Republicans; I think they’re both spineless.” But he touches upon what could be an important movement in American political history.
As he wrote in his letter: “All of you who are registered voters should actively participate in supporting and getting elected the people who will represent your point of view in Congress. I challenge you to put your efforts where your mouth is. I will be proud to stand beside you.”
It is a powerful message from one generation to another. And it delivers some hope that we will, indeed, make America great again.
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