“Not without warning”

I’ve been thinking about a set of old 78s my parents used to have. It was called The Airborne Symphony, composed during World War II by Marc Blitzstein. It tells the history of human flight from the past to the experiences of combat pilots. I may have been 9 or 10 when I listened to the symphony in its entirety. The story of flight fit nicely with my interest in the Apollo program. I found the “hurry up and wait” segment funny. But it was the final section that sticks in my memory.

As I thought about the upcoming Biden Administration, these words from this passage of The Airborne Symphony echoed in my mind:

Thankfulness, not without grief.
The bright morning, not without warning.
Watch this victory.
Whose victory?
Whose glory?

Shall men,
Once again ready to resume the conquest of the skies,
Once again be stopped?
Once again create the enemy?

Watch this victory.
Blessing of the bright morning
To the airborne.
Not without warning.

It was a warning that blared loudly on Wednesday, January 6, with the attack on the Capitol Building.