I would like to thank every American for thinking of those lost this Memorial Day. I will never forget every Friday evening in Afghanistan, going to formation, not to see if there was a funeral, but to see how many funerals we had compiled for that week. But more than Americans feeling sadness or paying respect, I would like them to examine their thoughts.
So many and too many times I have seen my fellow citizens address war as something of a non-reality. In my mind’s eye, it is much akin to an adolescent saying that they surely do not know everything (while secretly believing that they actually do), to an American expressing that they can discern righteousness in regards to war, and then expressing their jingoistic patriotism.
Too many have allowed objectivity to become synonymous with some form of subversion. There is nothing I respect less than a man who has seen war and still speaks of its “glory”. That is utter bullshit. There is no glory. In war, there is surviving to tomorrow, and, in the bigger picture, putting together enough tomorrows so that you can once live life again.
Since it is Memorial Day, let us speak of the dead. The fifty thousand US dead in Viet Nam have bought us what, exactly? Could none have died and everything have been the same as it is today? Could not the sons and daughters, mother and fathers of those men lived life to a greater degree with the same world that now exists? Could not the four thousand US dead in Iraq have come home and lived and laughed and made love again, and the status quo you see around you today still been relatively the same? I believe so, and that is the greatest tragedy of all.
If we are truly to respect those of the American Military, let us do our best to see that their blood is never spilt in vain. Let us do our best to know that, when they are sent to hell, they are there for a good reason. Let us not be cowards in the face of speaking to power, and telling them that so many of their wars are stupid, unjust and shall never be allowed again. Let us use or minds before we wave our flags.
Thanks.
