ECHOES OF WAR, ECHOES OF PAIN

      The other day a fool accused me of being a non patriot because I dared to speak up, in opposition to something he favors. Well, perhaps he needs to look in the mirror, but be that as it may, he also brought up two wars in which, according to him, I spat at soldiers, from both the Korean and Vietnam wars. Interesting, because during one I was between 3-4 years old and during the other, while my opinions about the war changed, I would never ever spit on a serviceman or woman from this nation. Perhaps he used to spit on people as a statement of some sort, but I was raised better than that, thank you very much.
      In any case, before he speaks, Milton "The Patriot" Cohen needs to be aware of the feelings of others and the pain that inane statements cause, not only to his original target but also as they say,  in "collateral" damage. Several days ago I came across this small in memoriam blurb, small in size but powerful in what it says, in the echoes of pain that are still felt to this day. It is from the NY Times. I reprint it in exact presentation.
        "VENTLINE - Pfc. Lukas.
                of Detroit, 23, Vietnam, Fe-
        bruary 18, 1968, a half-century
        gone, a pawn, with 58,000 oth-
        er U.S. loyals in TET futile
       battle. Eternal Rest."
   
     Down thru the years and the pain still echoes, loud and strong. See, war is never over and there are never any winners for the losses are just too unbearable. Yes, there are wars that appear to have no other way out other than to fight, but before the world got there how much more could it have done to avoid the war and yet still achieve justice and honor.
     Yoko Ono, admittedly a tad strange, posted another of her full page ads on October 9 of this year with the simple statement "Give peace a chance." I can remember singing that as a much younger self and think back only to less than a year ago to a packed Beatles Tribute concert at the Kravis and seeing an entire theater full of people all holding up both hands in the V sign for peace, all swaying to the music, all returned to their days of protest and yearning for peace, for truth in government, all singing in strong voices and emotion to "give peace a chance".
       Does this make them unpatriotic? I think not. Were some unpatriotic at that long ago time? Yes, for I still believe that Jane Fonda had no business doing what she did when our boys were being held and tortured by the North Vietnamese and to this day I will not see a film of hers, but one can not tar all with the same brush.
     Teddy Roosevelt said in his famous statement that we should talk softly but carry a big stick. It meant that we had to have respect from others, so that they would hear and heed what we had to say. Simply by doing that we would avoid costly wars and I am referring to the cost in lives. Today, that lesson seems to have been lost and thus we are engaged in wars in too many places and while we sometimes say that our soldiers are "advisers" only, so were our boys in early Vietnam and so are our soldiers and armed forces personnel now called in Afghanistan, in Iraq and for what and why? No one out there believes us anymore as we have reneged and waffled so much. Just look to our current incumbent in office and see where he has led us. I believe we are in a more precarious situation now than at the beginning of his terms in office. Our people died and/or are suffering from awful lasting effects of terrible wounds, and yet here we are, "advising" for the same areas that we have already fought and died for. And for what? It appears as if both sides are equally as corrupt as the other side. So for what? Taliban? ISIS? Al Nusra? They all seem to be flourishing.
     WWI led to WWII, the war to end all wars obviously not living up to its name. WWII has led to other conflicts since its end. It happens when we do not take realities into account and draw lines and make demands that will fracture and erupt with violence time and time again.
     The echoes of wars past lead to newer echoes from newer wars and yet it is the same old battles and the same old echoes of pain, of loss, that continue to fill the air around us. We need to be strong, to be honest and to have clear cut principles, be it personally or nationally, for if not, we will have no one's respect and no one's ears.
     Is it an easy task, a nice wide pathway? No, but yet it must be done. WE, and by that I mean humanity, seems to have lost its way. Next month is Veteran's Day, Armistice Day still in other countries. The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Rings out, does it not. Yet does it ring enough or has the thought behind it turned into merely another shopping day of sales and bargains, a day off from school or work and a slight sop to the true meaning with a parade here or there and some flags at the cemeteries.
     Today I read and watch and cry as my other homeland erupts in murder and terror. My heart is in my throat as I plead with my grandson to be careful, as I check in with my family that reside there. I wonder why once again people are out to kill the Jews, and make no bones about it - the cry is "yahud" - Arabic for Jew and never mind their tortured explanations that say they love Jews, just hate Zionists. Bull!! We intend to visit there in March, to visit family and especially grandson, and I am afraid, for never before has it been a tide of crazy people stabbing, ramming cars, using screwdrivers, setting off a car bomb today with that awful echoing cry of "Allahu Akbar", of using religion to kill and the echoes are repeated and newly engendered.
     War is never patriotic. It is a sign that we have lost our way and yes, sometimes it appears that there is no other way, but why so much? Why are so many countries of the world at war with others and themselves? Why is the arms industry so healthy? Why do we pay so much to kill others and then to try to feed others when we have hunger and need in our own country? The echoes of war cause echoes of pain down thru the years as our priorities are twisted and we lose our way.
     I cry for relatives and friends lost in war, be it  the Holocaust, WWII, Korea, Vietnam or in Israel. I cry for our armed forces who are killed and wounded, who fill our Veterans' hospitals, who suffer from lack of enough personnel for care and help. I cry for the fact that we are forced to kill others. Echoes of war, echoes of pain. Will they never stop?
     "What would your good do if evil didn't exist, and what would the earth look like if all the shadows disappeared?"
      I cannot answer that question, but wouldn't it be nice to try.