Memorial Day Thoughts
Yesterday, for a brief moment, I felt that my thesis goal was obtainable. So obtainable that I didn't need to stress out about anything anymore.
That was yesterday, and only for a brief moment, although, it is Memorial Day, and I thought that mowing the lawn would be a better way of remembering those men and women who served our country rather than writing about non-military national service. Well that and watching A&E's Cold Case Files which I am obviously addicted to.
But I did think about those who have given their time and their lives in various wars that we have fought. A few weeks ago I was talking to someone about how war can no longer be romanticized as it once was for our grandparents and great grandparents who fought in World War I and World War II. Viet Nam destroyed any notion of war being noble, great, or heroic. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that those who served in Viet Nam are not those things, it is just the consciousness that Americans awoke to as a result of our involvement--that something had gone so horribly wrong. The beautiful poetry of young boy soldiers from WWI has been replaced by Apocalypse Now. There is no innocence to war any longer. No one will stop to play soccer with the enemy on Christmas Day, forgetting that we are at war. But perhaps that is also because we are no longer fighting other Westerners. The "enemies" are now those not like us. Although, I guess facists and communists are not like "us" either? Sometimes I do wonder though.
That was yesterday, and only for a brief moment, although, it is Memorial Day, and I thought that mowing the lawn would be a better way of remembering those men and women who served our country rather than writing about non-military national service. Well that and watching A&E's Cold Case Files which I am obviously addicted to.
But I did think about those who have given their time and their lives in various wars that we have fought. A few weeks ago I was talking to someone about how war can no longer be romanticized as it once was for our grandparents and great grandparents who fought in World War I and World War II. Viet Nam destroyed any notion of war being noble, great, or heroic. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that those who served in Viet Nam are not those things, it is just the consciousness that Americans awoke to as a result of our involvement--that something had gone so horribly wrong. The beautiful poetry of young boy soldiers from WWI has been replaced by Apocalypse Now. There is no innocence to war any longer. No one will stop to play soccer with the enemy on Christmas Day, forgetting that we are at war. But perhaps that is also because we are no longer fighting other Westerners. The "enemies" are now those not like us. Although, I guess facists and communists are not like "us" either? Sometimes I do wonder though.
posted by Molly | 5:57 PM
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