Reflecting on his time in the Marines, Tampa Bay veteran Carl Spurlin Dekel said that while fighting in the war was his biggest pride, slain soldiers had not died for the America of today.
"People don't realize what they have," Dekel told Fox13.
"The things we did and the things we fought for and the boys that died for it, it's all gone down the drain. Our country is going to hell in a hand-basket."
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Dekel became emotional as he talked about the contrasts between the America he was raised in and the current state of matters in the country. His comments came during an interview to commemorate Dekel's 100th birthday, which the Silver-medal holder spent with friends and family.
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Dekel said he had lived a good life and hinted at his appreciation for the little things as the reason behind his longevity and good health. "I really believe in this whole world and believe everything is beautiful. I mean if I wake up in the morning and see these plants, and all of those flowers, and the green grass in the ground, that's beautiful," he told Fox13.
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Dekel proudly displayed his many medals from his time in the Marines. However, the war veteran burst into tears when thinking about the friends he had lost to the war.
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"We haven't got the country we had when I was raised, not at all,” he said.
"Nobody will have the fun I had. Nobody will have the opportunity I had. It's just not the same. And that's not what our boys, that's not what they died for."
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It is unclear what specifically Dekel referred to, but a recent wave of violence, mass shootings, inflation increase, and overturns of landmark decisions by America's highest court has reduced the country's morale.
Williams, also a U.S. Marine, received his medal for heroism from former President Harry Truman during the battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. America’s 63 living Medal of Honor recipients honored Williams in a statement to Fox News Digital.
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“Friends and family of Woody Williams knew him as a West Virginia farmer’s son and the youngest of 11 children who dutifully supported his family after his father died,” they wrote in a statement through the Congressional Medal of Honor Society. “Fellow Marines knew him as the corporal who volunteered for a mission on Iwo Jima to clear a lane through enemy pillboxes that were destroying American tanks.”
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“Veterans in West Virginia knew him as their advocate through his work as a Veterans Service Representative. Gold Star families knew Woody through his work raising money for scholarships and other programs through the Woody Williams Foundation,” they continued. “We, his fellow Medal of Honor Recipients, knew him as our friend and one of our heroes. We will miss him greatly.”
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A Gallup poll released in June revealed that a record-high 50 percent of Americans rated the U.S.'s moral values as flawed.
Seventy-eight percent said the values in America are getting worse, and only 12 percent rated the state of moral values as "good." Just 1 percent rated them excellent.
It comes amid dropping approval ratings for those in the country's highest offices, including President Joe Biden, whose approval sank to below 50 percent in May.
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