Worst May DJIA performance since 1940?

While factually true that May 2010 was the worst May since 1940, the Dow Jones Industrial Averages were down 122.36 or 1.2%, I feel subjectively this is not true.  Why?

During May of 1940 the world was still just at the end of the Great Depression.  Furthermore, World War II was in full swing having started in September of 1939.  While, the United States was not involved directly in the war, it was indirectly involved economically and diplomatically.  Additionally, the United States was not nearly as a powerful a nation as it is now in May 2010.  In my opinion the United States is in the best economic shape it has been in for many years.  Why?  Because the fat on the U.S. economic athlete has been trimmed off.  Yes, there are some residual effects of having been overweight, a set of sore knees (institutional structures), an underdeveloped cardiovascular system (weak banking system), and a lack of self-confidence in the body (lack of faith in the economy), but the body is beyond recovered.

That May 2010 was the worst May since 1940 is all the evidence I feel is necessary to know that investors are unnecessarily skittish.  They are discounting their fears and not reality.

Jason