Do you suppose the editor of the Cascade Pioneer realized
the whole top half of the 31 May edition was covered with military photos? In a
saner, less militaristic time Memorial Day was referred to as “Decoration Day,”
for recalling relatives: to visit cemeteries, bring flowers, and clean the birdpoop off headstones.
I am not quite sure when it was co-opted by the military,
which is not to say we don’t owe a debt to veterans, in terms of health care
because we do. And it grieves me to
hear that is not being honestly met in some states, though here in Iowa, it
appears we are.
However, in the Vietnam era there were men who left the
country to avoid the military, and they are my heroes. They were part of the
demise of that illegitimate, unpopular war. We might have avoided Geo Bush’s
Iraq war over WMDs that didn’t exist, if we had some of that spirit left, but
it seems to have evaporated.
Now, that we have a voluntary military—more accurately, a
poverty draft—insuring that the upper class never has to fight for its country.
Even when there was with a draft, families like Bushes kept their little
Georges out of harm’s way. Though courageous ones like the Kerrys and the
Kennedys didn’t, though that didn’t keep John Kerry’s opponents from swift-boating
him when he ran for office. Where was respect for the military then?
The military is under civilian control for a reason. Killing
people is basically a rather dishonorable activity and should not be referred
to as a job or career. Marginal reasons for doing it makes it doubly dishonorable.
We should not lose sight of it.
