On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month peace was declared in the war to end all wars. The fields of poppies that bloomed around the sites of the field hospitals became an enduring emblem of the sacrifice of all who serve their country in time of war. That peace was quickly undermined by greed and lust for revenge. The next war was more destructive and ended with a fresh set of battle lines and ready made enemies.
After Vietnam we built the wall to show that we cared that our brothers and sons were lost. There was nothing glorious about that conflict that would evoke any image as strong as the names of the fallen. A decade of destruction and corruption had shattered a once proud force and impoverished a nation. Only the munitions builders prospered.
The leaking of the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg did not stop another five years of killing. No one ever went to jail for subverting the American plan of battle to needlessly extend a war just to make money. We know now that the Tonkin Gulf Incident never happened. No one was ever help accountable.
In the last 125 years America has destroyed and undermined more democracies that we have created. From Haiti to China, Iran to Argentina, American foreign policies have stopped the progress of representative democracy and replaced it with the worst forms of repressive totalitarianism.
After seven years of Neo-Con attempts at world domination we find a force broken and a nation impoverished. Veteran suicide rates are 400% of peace time rates and twice Vietnam era rates. One in three female service members will be sexually assaulted by a member of their own unit. 60% of our homeless population are Vets. Pentecostal Fundamentalist Christians have a national crusade to gain control of the military ranks. Fox news anchors laughed at “Purple Heart Band-aids” as a great demonstration of humor.
Not one single reason for going to war in Iraq turned out to be true.
Nothing is more sacred than service to ones country.
Nothing is more profane than to subvert that service to any other purpose.
At least the Army trains you for a career.
11/11
On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month peace was declared in the war to end all wars. The fields of poppies that bloomed around the sites of the field hospitals became an enduring emblem of the sacrifice of all who serve their country in time of war. That peace was quickly undermined by greed and lust for revenge. The next war was more destructive and ended with a fresh set of battle lines and ready made enemies.
After Vietnam we built the wall to show that we cared that our brothers and sons were lost. There was nothing glorious about that conflict that would evoke any image as strong as the names of the fallen. A decade of destruction and corruption had shattered a once proud force and impoverished a nation. Only the munitions builders prospered.
The leaking of the Pentagon Papers by Daniel Ellsberg did not stop another five years of killing. No one ever went to jail for subverting the American plan of battle to needlessly extend a war just to make money. We know now that the Tonkin Gulf Incident never happened. No one was ever help accountable.
In the last 125 years America has destroyed and undermined more democracies that we have created. From Haiti to China, Iran to Argentina, American foreign policies have stopped the progress of representative democracy and replaced it with the worst forms of repressive totalitarianism.
After seven years of Neo-Con attempts at world domination we find a force broken and a nation impoverished. Veteran suicide rates are 400% of peace time rates and twice Vietnam era rates. One in three female service members will be sexually assaulted by a member of their own unit. 60% of our homeless population are Vets. Pentecostal Fundamentalist Christians have a national crusade to gain control of the military ranks. Fox news anchors laughed at “Purple Heart Band-aids” as a great demonstration of humor.
Not one single reason for going to war in Iraq turned out to be true.
Nothing is more sacred than service to ones country.
Nothing is more profane than to subvert that service to any other purpose.
At least the Army trains you for a career.