Memorial Day Contemplation

A Veteran Speaks of the Forgotten Wounded of Iraq by Ron Kovic: A Vietnam veteran, paralyzed in the war, talks about his own struggles, those that the recently wounded in Iraq face, and how we can break this cycle of violence and begin to move in a different direction. Excerpt:

We who have witnessed the obscenity of war and experienced its horror and terrible consequences have an obligation to rise above our pain and suffering and turn the tragedy of our lives into a triumph. I have come to believe that there is nothing in the lives of human beings more terrifying than war and nothing more important than for those of us who have experienced it to share its awful truth.

We must break this cycle of violence and begin to move in a different direction; war is not the answer, violence is not the solution. A more peaceful world is possible.

I am the living death
The memorial day on wheels
I am your yankee doodle dandy
Your John Wayne come home
Your Fourth of July firecracker
Exploding in the grave.

(More about Ron Kovic here. He recited his poem above at the 1976 Democratic National Convention.)

There is also this from yesterday's Washington Post, entitled "I Lost My Son to a War I Oppose. We Were Both Doing Our Duty," by Andrew J. Bacevich.