In reading yet more news about all the tragedy in Iraq, I thought this evening about the Viet Nam vet roommate I had back in college and the stories he told me both of what he experienced over in Viet Nam, and what it was like to return to the States and become “something like a ghost”. I can still clearly recall the darkness of our dorm room after speaking for hours after seeing the movie “Deer Hunter”, and lying there unable to find words to reassure him.
I fear, that with all the madness going on right now and the government’s scramble to find someone to blame and get themselves out of the spotlight, once again those young soldiers are going to come home to public shame and invisibility. And another generation will have to live with the awful demons that war awakens, forced upon them by leaders who can wriggle and lie their way out of anything.
Laughing Knees 
One reply on “Coming Home”
Yes, soldiers coming home from this war will most likely be in a bad psychological condition and the US administration has up to now shown no interest whatsoever in what will happen to their “heroes” when they come back.
Even worse, the Republicans have been passing laws that will reduce the money available for veterans care…
I’m horrified by how little compassion or any kind of human emotion is visible in the actions of the current US government. Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld et al could as well be robots. All their actions against friends and foes alike have been without morals or remorse.
And even worse for the US soldiers now overseas – the torture pictures shown at home over and over again will destroy a lot of goodwill for troops coming home, even if they themselves were not at all involved in these atrocities.
I can feel a deep, deep shock in many Americans that these things have been going on in their name.
Torture, especially once publicized, destroys lifes, souls and morals on both sides of a war. Nobody can escape.
There is a huge white elephant standing in the middle of the room, and many Americans can not deny anymore that it is there: These atrocities have been encouraged and signed off at the highest levels of the US government.
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