Black Granite Walls
After revisiting the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, I again came away very angry at the totally unnecessary waste of lives that occurred between 1965 and 1973. Today, we witness more of the same deadly combination of cowardly politicians, and uninformed voters, who will never be held accountable for the continuing deaths of brave young Americans.
The nightmare of Vietnam still haunts America, because it lasted from July 1959 until March of 1973. In 1965, Under Secretary of State George Ball recommended that we cut our losses in Vietnam. Ball insisted it was a quagmire, but LBJ considered it unacceptable, because our national honor was at stake and it didn’t offer “a good way out.” After, George Ball’s recommendation an additional 55,000 Americans died, while LBJ and Nixon sought to save “their” honor. Nearly, all congressional Republicans favor the continued occupation of Iraq as they did between 1965 and 1973 in Vietnam.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness 25 percent of the homeless in the United States are veterans. Furthermore, a NBC report based on Veterans Administration estimates indicates that each day nationwide there are 18 suicides involving veterans versus nine suicides involving non veterans.
The establishment of an all-volunteer military has allowed our politicians to wage wars without spreading the sacrifice among the population at large. The volunteers and their families make the sacrifices while the rest of the us are encouraged to live our lives as normal. We’re not even taxed more to finance the war, because that burden will fall on future generations.
The Vietnam Memorial has 58,256 names inscribed on polished black granite walls in chronological order of the date of casualty. The walls are over 246 feet long and gradually rise to over 10 feet high. Unlike other memorials, the Vietnam Memorial is void of famous quotes, because it was felt that those 58,256 names spoke volumes, but unfortunately, they haven’t. I would suggest a single quote at the end of this very poignant memorial stating: “If any question why we died tell them because our fathers lied.” - Rudyard Kipling
The nightmare of Vietnam still haunts America, because it lasted from July 1959 until March of 1973. In 1965, Under Secretary of State George Ball recommended that we cut our losses in Vietnam. Ball insisted it was a quagmire, but LBJ considered it unacceptable, because our national honor was at stake and it didn’t offer “a good way out.” After, George Ball’s recommendation an additional 55,000 Americans died, while LBJ and Nixon sought to save “their” honor. Nearly, all congressional Republicans favor the continued occupation of Iraq as they did between 1965 and 1973 in Vietnam.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness 25 percent of the homeless in the United States are veterans. Furthermore, a NBC report based on Veterans Administration estimates indicates that each day nationwide there are 18 suicides involving veterans versus nine suicides involving non veterans.
The establishment of an all-volunteer military has allowed our politicians to wage wars without spreading the sacrifice among the population at large. The volunteers and their families make the sacrifices while the rest of the us are encouraged to live our lives as normal. We’re not even taxed more to finance the war, because that burden will fall on future generations.
The Vietnam Memorial has 58,256 names inscribed on polished black granite walls in chronological order of the date of casualty. The walls are over 246 feet long and gradually rise to over 10 feet high. Unlike other memorials, the Vietnam Memorial is void of famous quotes, because it was felt that those 58,256 names spoke volumes, but unfortunately, they haven’t. I would suggest a single quote at the end of this very poignant memorial stating: “If any question why we died tell them because our fathers lied.” - Rudyard Kipling
posted by Jim O'Leary | 12:02 AM
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