Reply #13: sadly so RIGHT SoCalDem.... as [View All]

[Bluerthanblue]

my 23yr old son said to me the other day- The folks that died in Vietnam, DID die for NOTHING- because, we learned nothing by their loss- If we had, we would never have allowed any of our troops to go into Iraq-

That long ribbon of dark stone with letters that is carved with symbols which can never contain the loss- can never capture the fullness that they seek to memorialize-

fifty thousand voices silenced forever

one hundred thousand eyes that no longer see, or shed tears of joy or sorrow,

Another hundred thousand hands that never got another chance to smooth the hair from the face of their love or feel the strength of the grasp of their newborn babe-

Fifty thousand hearts, that no longer beat in the chests of boys, men, women who were betrayed by those who held the power to send them to their deaths- or realize the folly of killing for peace-

Fifty thousand souls, who even in death, we dismiss- we give lip service to-

The real cost of war- the true loss to this world when we wage a war of choice- can never be measured, is impossible to calculate in dollars and cents-
No amount of money can ever replace what has been sacrificed to the Gods of violence, greed, fear and power-

The Fifty thousand named on that wall, don't include those who came home, 'alive' but dying and who continue to die, bit by bit, day by day- or the dreams, and hopes, and potential that we threw away-

And the grief, pain and loss of what is truly precious in this world, robbed from the families and friends that are left with little more than memories, folded flags, marks on a stone

What kind of memorial will we commission to hold these new sacrificial lambs?

"And how many deaths will it take till we know, that too many people have died?"

Another long cold wet wind continues to blow, and it never seems to stop long enough for us to hear....... or maybe we simply never really learned how to listen...

it hurts to hear

empty promises and

deathly silence.