I never served. I believe the wars of my lifetime were wrong and misguided and fought for what Eisenhower called "the military-industrial complex," not to better the world.I think Vietnam was wrong and cost way too many young lives. The little wars of Ronald Raygun were wrong. Afghanistan should have been a grab-and-punish-the-bad-guy operation. Iraq was just plain stupid.
But many of my customers are retired military. A lot of the people I work with are active or retired.
And I'm a big fan of cartoons.
Maybe some of you remember Snoopy, in Peanuts, having a root beer with Bill Maudlin.
Maybe you don't know Bill Maudlin was a Pulitzer prize winning cartoonist who was unemployed so he joined the army in 1941. Check out the official website and enjoy some of his (very very dated) cartoons. It's a good way to respect Memorial Day, when even a pacifist like me can be reminded there is sometimes a need to fight.
--I hate fighting and war and pain and death and suffering and hurting people and blowing stuff up, but it is sometimes necessary. Sometimes it's the only reasonable option.
ReplyDeleteUtmost respect for those who have served, both in wartime and in peace. And thank you.
Nice piece.