"I thought we learned a lesson in Vietnam. I was wrong."

http://www.startribune.com/357/story/1541483.html

Nick Coleman: Back from Iraq, veterans raise their voices against the war
By Nick Coleman, Star Tribune

Last update: November 10, 2007 – 8:47 PM

<snip>After four soldiers in his unit were killed in an explosion, he says, an Army psychiatrist counseled the grieving troops. But after two hours, the shrink looked at his watch and said, "Well, I guess we should get out of here."

After that, Day says, the soldiers decided they couldn't talk about their feelings. Instead, their attitude became, "The Army broke me, and they can't fix me."

Today's reading of the names of the dead will follow a 10:30 bell-ringing ceremony at the First Shot Memorial on the west side of the Veterans Services Building near the Capitol. Afterward, at noon, the group will meet at Macalester Plymouth United Church, 1658 Lincoln Av., St. Paul. All Iraq-era veterans are welcome. They may also e-mail Minnesota@ivaw.org.

"For the second time in my life, a president has plunged our country into a quagmire where there is no way to win a victory which can be defined," Davey says.

"I thought we learned a lesson in Vietnam. I was wrong."

From Vietnam, the neocon's learned that they had to attack the opposition to war early and name those who did not want to bomb the world, un-patriotic, un-America and supporting terrorism.
They did that very well.

They then studied the Nixon mistakes and put in place everything necessary to insure they wouldn't be subject to the same scrutiny Nixon had, they fixed the media, the Justice Department and Congress before they committed the crimes.

The neocon's learned very well, the rest of us just thought that it couldn't happen twice and were taken to the cleaners over any opposition we have been able to raise.

You nailed it, I'm afraid.

Veterans Day is emotional and excruciating for many of us. Remembering college pals, so full of hope and promise, filled with the adventure of flying helicopters---gone. The high school friend who killed himself while home on furlough; the very good friend, brilliant and funny, who drank and drugged himself to death on Veteran's Day 20 years ago; the cousin who died of Agent Orange, and his children who are congenitally disabled; the Navy nurse, who couldn't get the pictures out of her head, and ended her life, and the two brothers with whom I went to elementary school, killed in battle, still fresh and painful on a visceral level, like a medicine ball hitting the heart.
The line between honoring our vets and glorifying war has become so blurry and faint that it is barely existent. It defies all reason that we sent our beautiful, bright children to be maimed and killed at the whim of our president. No wonder we have so many
Veterans Against War. They know, first hand, how wrong we are.

Top heavy military spending into a resession isn't really wise

However every time it rolls around I always think of my friends that won't ever return. So long ago I can't hardly recall their faces but I do recall their thoughts and their humor and their laughter and their fears. I hate this day and Memorial Day as well..