Of course I wouldn't oppose a memorial to them!
Or to those who died in any war. Tricked, sometimes, into doing what someone else (who wouldn't die, and, usually, whose son wouldn't, either) thought was a good idea. Or who was in the line of fire because they couldn't pay for college on their own. Or because of other such Warrior Motivations.
One wants to say thank you, and thank you forever, and to mark grief.
But...
There are things to keep in mind.
There is something more going on than thank you, and thank you to your grieving families, whom we will comfort with this marker.
And even though all you say is, truly, going on...
there is more.
And it's covert, and it's all not so nice.
If I were Bill Gates, I might make a point about the glories of war by building a sort of Integrated Vietnamese Memorial.
Imagine how huge the Vietnamese Memorial would be if it included the names of the Vietnamese... warriors.
(And I always read the names on memorials, too, and send good thoughts back in time, and think about the children and grandchildren and great grandchildren they didn't have, and say I'm sorry. Always.) |
