End all war II - Soldiers

Always question authority – that is the best defense of sanity as it wards off arrogance of power and in the end fosters justice. Soldiers fighting in illegal, unjust bloody wars have never had a say in the decisions made by kings, emperors & presidents. Yet they feel they must uphold the wrongness of the decisions leading to mayhem and murder, feeling that criticism of the commander in chief is an attack on their personal integrity. In this four year old war, waged on lies, fabricated to convince a reluctant population, money, oil and the chimera of world dominion seemed to be the driving force. The soldiers serving should question what they are doing and not expect that thinking and feeling has to stop. Small acts of resistance are a necessity for the soul. My great uncle fought in two German wars. On the wrong side, for the wrong cause, yet he was an honorable man, never sharing the dark ideology of Nazism. My grandfather was a prisoner in a concentration camp in Austria. My father was a GI. It has to stop. No more wars. Peace is hard, takes time and effort but breathes at the time of the earth and not of a government. André Gide wrote: It is easier to lead men to combat, stirring up their passion, than to restrain them and direct them toward the patient labors of peace.

The first song I knew was
my daddy is over the ocean
and of course
I thought that every American
was my father
Later
I was to blame for the Vietnam war
belonging
where I didn’t belong
Now I hear your voice
You charmer sweet talker

Too much dying had gone on
to settle down
when the screams and fire
still pierced your dreams
when you freed my mother from her enemy
and waged a sweet war with her

So GI
later
- so much later now -
your acceptance
has liberated me
belonging where I do belong