a veteran’s view of Memorial Day

In 1968 I chose to enlist in the USAF for four years rather than being drafted into the Army for two. In my ignorance I saw only that one way to avoid being handed a rifle and told to kill people I had no quarrel with, or be killed by them. I knew I would struggle to be comfortable living with myself if I survived.

Many people of my age let the government choose for them, and for a lot of those it didn’t work out well. It has been the same for young men in this country for 222 of the 239 years since it was founded.

I’m taking the time today to say I’m sorry for what happened to my fellow veterans, to me and for the negative consequences suffered by all of our families.

As we pause to honor the fallen troops, we should consider why they were sent to the fields of battle. In every case since the founding of this country, the wars were constructed by men who gained wealth and power from those wars. Every single one. Every single time.

For Memorial Day, we all should STOP and THINK. Then speak, write, do something to stop sending fine, ignorant (not unintelligent) young folks to suffer and die that others might profit.

Hundreds of thousands of our young men have been maimed and slaughtered in the profit/power machine that ex-General, ex-President Dwight Eisenhower warned us about: The Military / Industrial Complex. Presidents Kennedy, Lincoln and Jackson pointed out it was the global bankers behind all of that.

Those are the real enemies of peace in this world.

On this day, thank your veterans past and future by resolving to do something against the war machine.

Even the timid could find ways to support the evil manipulators a little less. (Hang around here every once in a while and I’ll help you come up with ideas).

Support our troops by keeping them home with their families.

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