Ghosts of War
Reported by Marie Therese - August 23, 2004 -
Newshounds Editorial
In 1970, one of my favorite songs was Roberta Flack's recording of Ballad of the Sad Young Men. For me at the time, in the midst of the chaos of the Vietnam era, it summed up the feeling of hopeless desperation that sat like a dark cloud over all of the young men in my then-young life.
Some were 4F.
Some went to Canada.
Some wangled a military desk job.
Some joined the National Guard.
Some became conscientious objectors.
Some lied for an exemption.
Some joined ROTC.
Some dodged the draft.
Some were injured.
Some ran away.
Some were captured.
Some renounced their country.
Some were POWs.
Some died.
Some were MIA.
Some are MIA.
For every single one of us who lived through it, it was a time that tore this country into tiny little shreds.
And, God help us, we're back there again.
It wasn't supposed to happen this way. Our generation was going to make war obsolete. Our children weren't going to have to carry guns into combat. They'd enlist to get an education or help in emergencies.
And where are they now?
Going to war.
Thinking about war.
Planning for war.
Avoiding war.
Afraid of war.
Being injured in war.
Dying in war.
I personally have no problem with George W. Bush and his National Guard Service. I knew guys at the time who would have loved the chance to take the same deferment. As for what he did for the missing six months, maybe we'll never know. And does it really matter?
Vietnam was a war built on a lie like a house on sand.
And here we are 35 years later and it's still tearing us apart.
It's veteran against veteran, old antiwar activist against old prowar advocate, liberal against conservative, the young against the old, memory against memory, distorted records against missing records.
We were then and are now all VICTIMS of war.
To those veterans who agree with the Swift Boat ads, antiwar protesters like Kerry (and me) became the face of treason. Unable or unwilling to blame their government for consigning them to a living hell, they transferred their anger and hatred to the antiwar movement. Today, for them, John Kerry is the physical manifestation of that anger and hatred.
And those of us who protested the war were no angels either. When the soldiers came back, we blamed them. We transferred our anger at and hatred for the government to the vets. We believed they were all baby killers. Or, at least, I did.
Thirty-five years ago, I did make negative value judgments about veterans, based on my antiwar views. I wouldn't date vets and avoided them at parties.
So, I hereby apologize to all of them. It was wrong. I was young and stupid.
Thankfully, today, those of us who oppose the war in Iraq do not blame the soldiers.
On the one hand, I'd like to get back to today's issues instead of reliving yesterday's pain.
But, on the other hand, I know that the Kerry camp has got to respond forcefully to any attack.
Still, it breaks my heart to see the ghosts of the past invoked to distract us from the issues of our present and future.
And, in the end, we are all victimized a second time.
