Dad’s Been Writing to the AJC Again
Dad write a lot of letters to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Here’s one for Memorial Day:
What am I to remember on Memorial Day? My own service during the Viet Nam War was in a non-combat area. I remember it like any other time. But as a child, I recall the heros: Eisenhower, McArthur, the men of Iwo Jima. In my adult life, we’ve had Viet Nam, the Gulf War, and this current debacle. I don’t look at them the same way. I feel sorry for the young people who have fought in them. Very sorry that so
many have died.I guess the Iraqi War is the final straw in the dissolution of any heroic memories. We entered this war based on a lie. We entered it unprovoked. It’s now justified by saying that Hussein was a bad, dangerous man, his soldiers committed atrocities. I now see our president as a bad, dangerous man, and read about our soldiers commiting atrocities. America is just another country with the foolish notion that only power can prevail in the world – power without principles.
What am I to remember on Memorial Day? What I feel is shame.
