This article is probably  the most heart breaking thing I have ever read. Not many people consider the soilders when speaking about the innocent victims of war. I know not all of them are innocent or victims but the majority are, at least in the beginning. The ones lucky enough to make it home are changed and this change reshapes the reat of their lives and the lives of the  people that love them. Many times this change is for the worst and the young innocent that left comes back a hardened, gruff and untrusting person. Most of us can not and do not want to imagine the hell you and others have endured. We as Americans have been lucky to not have had any war fought in our cities and neighborhoods since the American Civil War. We haven't had to watch our families tortured and killed before our very eyes. A huge number of Americans had to seek therapy after viewing the tragedy of 9-11 on television. Many have been permanently diabled because they personally witnessed the event. We need  to chose our leaders wisely before our nation has to deal with a war inside our boarders? We are getting closer to this happening each time our leaders use the misfortune of other countries for personal gain. The charge of treason should be given to leaders that play upon the fears of the citizens and manufactor lies to lure their country into a war . Our soilders should not feel shame for following orders, our leaders should feel shame for the orders they give.  Our country should feel shame for electing unscrupulous leaders. I am proud of every American that is willing to lay their life on the line to help lessen the chance of our children having war in their streets and homes. Even though at times we are led by fools, if we the people keep our wits about us , intelligence ,integrity and righteousness will prevail. I am sorry that you feel shame on Veterans Day and I am sorry that Americans have been shamed the world over since January 20, 2001  but that is coming to an end. We all need to learn from out mistakes and put the past far behind us.

by Denise Burton (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 3 comments) on Wednesday, Nov 12, 2008 at 11:27:33 AM

This was a great article.

By the way, my Dad fought in WW2 and he no longer thinks of it as the good war.  He points out, like you did, that top capitalists in England and the US supported Hitler before he became uppity enough to attack England.

And after the war, the US and the Vatican used the "ratline" to get some Nazis to safety, while simply placing some back in positions of power.   And many of the Nazi resistors in Greece and France found themselves attacked after the war by the same facists they had been fighting=now backed by the US.

The previous poster repeated propaganda by implying that soldiers are protecting us and our freedoms.

My dad points out that we are told that humans are natually warlike, but this couldn't be true, since we have to be LIED into war each time.

Of course, with the continual propaganda we are all subjected to, it's getting easier and easier. 

by wagelaborer (6 articles, 1 quicklinks, 9 diaries, 307 comments [34 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Nov 12, 2008 at 12:20:30 PM

Your article reminded me of Mark Twain's The War Prayer.   It is so compelling that I am showing it in its entirety here.  I hope you agree that this is a knockout piece.

The War Prayer

Mark Twain 

It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener. It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

Sunday morning came -- next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with martial dreams -- visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! Then home from the war, bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation

*God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest! Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!*

Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory --

An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher's side and stood there waiting. With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued with his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal, "Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!"

The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside -- which the startled minister did -- and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said:

"I come from the Throne -- bearing a message from Almighty God!" The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. "He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import -- that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of -- except he pause and think.

"God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two -- one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this -- keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it.

"You have heard your servant's prayer -- the uttered part of it. I am commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it -- that part which the pastor -- and also you in your hearts -- fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: 'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. the *whole* of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory--*must* follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

"O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle -- be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it -- for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

(*After a pause.*) "Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits!"

It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

---

Twain apparently dictated it around 1904-05; it was rejected by his publisher, and was found after his death among his unpublished manuscripts. It was first published in 1923 in Albert Bigelow Paine's anthology, Europe and Elsewhere.

The story is in response to a particular war, namely the Philippine-American War of 1899-1902, which Twain opposed. See Jim Zwick's page "Mark Twain on the Philippines" for more of Twain's writings on the subject.

Transcribed by Steven Orso (snorso@facstaff.wisc.edu)

by Richard Wise (35 articles, 0 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 88 comments [2 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Wednesday, Nov 12, 2008 at 3:43:33 PM

I very much like the idea of a War Victims Day. Mother's Day was originally of a similar nature- Mothers protesting the taking of their sons for the sake of the brutal war machine, and demanding peace- but a War Victims Day would be wholly correct and positive in purpose.

 When my kids were young, I took them to Holocaust Remembrance Day at the local college I'd been attending, because two people- a husband and wife- who had been on Schindler's List were there to speak. At first many of the people in the room looked at me askance for bringing them to such a somber presentation, but I knew they were old enough and intelligent enough to understand, and I wanted them to be able to put an actual person into the history that they knew. 

At the end of his talk, the husband looked at my kids and said, "It's up to you to make sure nothing like this can ever happen again." My son went up and shook his hand and thanked him for telling his story.

I would like to see a War Victims Day happen, for people hear the stories of people who have lived through war, and for the change of heart such an education provides. The war profiteers could never again be successful if such a thing were to become tradition.

Thanks also for posting Twain's "War Prayer"- a timeless and excellent piece.

by Jennifer Hathaway (16 articles, 16 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 760 comments [220 recommended, 1 rejected]) on Wednesday, Nov 12, 2008 at 5:21:53 PM

There was and obituary in the Minneapolis Tribune today.  It was for William Doyle who had been with the "Tiger Force" in Vietnam.  They bragged about killing thousands of civilians including women, children and old people and cutting off their ears to make necklaces out of and scalping them for their collections and beheading babies.  There were complaints that were investigated by the Army which confirmed these atrocities to be true but no official action was taken and the reports were buried until 2003 when they were uncovered in a FOIA request.  There was a reason why many soldiers were not welcomed home as heroes during the Vietnam Era.  It wasn't just My Lai.

by Bryan Emmel (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 415 comments [32 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Nov 13, 2008 at 2:47:30 AM

Veterans remember a time of meaning that was basically just a job working for a bunch of crooks.  I served in a Navy squadron from 1965 through 1968 keeping the pentagon racket alive.  Lockheed supplied the planes at tremendous cost and we were basically nothing more than a hindrance to Soviet submarines.  It was all part of the great protection racket.   Everyone at every level was part of a huge protection racket, except the people in Vietnam.  They died so we could clear out our weapons inventories.  Yes, Virginia.  America is run by organized crime.  Just assume it.  You'll never be wrong.

by John Hanks (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1760 comments [39 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Thursday, Nov 13, 2008 at 12:15:43 PM

First, thank you for your service to our nation, whether it was voluntary or not, you served and I appreciate that. 

As for your posting, I cannot say that I found it interesting nor do I agree or support your conclusion that "many' veterans consider their service a 'shameful and regretful' period of their lives.  Nevertheless, I did find your milksop to be entertaining. 

The only real exception I take to your prose is the claim that you are "One veteran speaking for many."

I too am a veteran, and you most assuredly do not speak for me.

 

by eodltc (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Thursday, Nov 13, 2008 at 5:09:46 PM

Mr. Eodtic might consider himself more intelligent than Albert Einstein, might love unfair wars that kill millions of people in their very own homeland and end in defeat for the U.S. anyway - like Vietnam - or in a truce like Korea - or a victory over tiny countries like Grenada, Dominican Republic and Panama, and hail the U.S. veterans, both dead a living as "having SERVED their country"

. .. but don't miss the whole point of the article and THANK the author for his participation in any of the above cowardly attacks on little nations by the world's superpower.

 Mr. Eodtic found attention to women and children killed by Veterans while 'serving their country' "entertaing milksop". If Mr. Eodtic doesn't know any veterans who feel shame and anger for being deceived, he needs to get out of the house more.

Thanking the writers of the other six comments for contributing so well to the discussion. Mr. Eodtic might like to read them as well and try to rebut.

by Jay Janson (105 articles, 0 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 117 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Monday, Nov 17, 2008 at 11:05:46 PM