I was passing through the town of Shirley, MA on Saturday. That is the location of the former Fort Devens military base and home to military families. At the town common there was a big Memorial Day weekend event with speeches and a rendition of America the Beautiful.
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
Unfortunately, that is all gone now. Brotherhood? What a quaint notion.
But the families of the people who loved and defended this country, its honor, and belief in its goodness carry on, because those soldiers were exceptional people, putting self a thousand miles behind the greater good.
I’ve been watching a true documentary of the Vietnam war [edit: Turning Point, on NetFlix], and am repulsed by the extent of the political malfeasance that extended the war, spared those with means at the expense of those without means, and the horrors endured by our young men and the Vietnamese people. I already knew about all of this, obviously, but now that more information is declassified it is all the more disgusting.
And nothing I’ve seen about the military industrial complex, political perversion, or the wars made since Vietnam is any less disgusting to me.
We are not America anymore. We are not what those people sacrificed and died for. But the honor of those people endures. As does the faithfulness of those still honoring them.
Every Memorial day I mention “Grampy” Stoughton Atwood, my wife’s grandpa, a WWII Naval Aviator, and my father, who did not get accepted into the Air Force, so he joined the Army because of course he was going to serve! It was different then.
Gary,My Dad was with Patton in the Battle Of The Bulge he survived.When I was about to be drafted I asked him about Viet Nam he said it was not the kind of war they fought.I did not go. Jim
Yup, something changed, I think with the cold war and commie paranoia taking on a life of its own. I feel like this society has been unwinding more rapidly into the end stages. I’ve known something was wrong since I was a little kid, which happened to be during the worst of the Vietnam war. JFK was a hero to me as a toddler, because he was handsome and I thought he was a great leader in my little kid brain. Poof, dead. Then RFK, MLK and the counterculture against the war. And politics was becoming ever more greedy and criminal to the point where both aisle have lost their way and lost their minds.
Thank you for the courage to speak to the deplorable condition the leadership and application of our military in the past 70 yrs. A once honorable institution truly dedicated to national security, now relegated to bullying non-threatening nations ( and now even allied nations) for political and financial gain. Great appreciation and prayers of safekeeping for the individuals that have chosen to serve, and utter contempt for those so called leaders that have utilized them so disgracefully
Very well said.
Regardless of the systems and malfeasance of those who profit from the suffering of war, those who offer their lives to the ideals of humanity and the reduction of suffering always deserve our recognition for their contributions.
Yes, indeed.
Gary; Thanks for this post. Totally agree with you. Can you send me the VN documentary
Hi David, I forgot the name of it. I’ll check and send it along.
It is called Turning Point, on Netflix. Best, clearest, most honest documentary I’ve seen on Vietnam.