Thursday, January 17, 2008

s'il faut donner son sang, allez donner le vôtre

Wounded GI's are now being deployed to fight when they really are in no condition to do so. Where's the respect and honor for the service they've already given?

I've been working on a documentary about Vietnam vets who, having lived with decades of undiagnosed PTSD, return to Vietnam for the first time since the fall of Saigon to face their demons and ghosts. It's sad that our government doesn't care more for our vets. A couple times since I've started editing this doc, I've passed by a VA center in SoMa, and I see the look on the faces of some of the men who stand outside. They have the same lost and pained look on their faces as some of the men in the film.

It makes me sad that there will be yet another generation of American men and women who return from fighting in a war whose cause is unfounded. Hasn't history taught our government any lessons? Oh yeah, I forgot who the commander-in-chief was for a minute.

Compassionate conservative, my arse.

I just finished reading an intriguing book review by Adam Gopnik in the New Yorker about the death toll during the Civil War. What made the grieving more palatable for those who lost their loved ones was the notion that these fathers, sons and husbands died for a Cause. I'm not sure if families and loved ones of the deceased in today's war can find similar solace.

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