Today is Memorial Day, 2011.
Let us remember and honor the young men and women who have gone forth to war, believing they were fighting for a good cause.
Let us not honor the war profiteers and the military industrial complex. Let us not honor the media that are in bed with the war profiteers and use their own sophisticated weapons, such as propaganda, to send off generation after generation of good people to kill and be killed.
Let us honor in particular the veterans who have come back home from war to fight for peace. Among those honorable veterans, let us give thanks to:
- General Smedley Butler (1881-1940), a highly decorated major general in the U.S. Marine Corps, who tried to explain to the American people why “War is a racket.” For a powerful reenactment of his famous “War is a racket” speech, click on the video above.
- Ron Kovic, survivor of the Vietnam War, and author of Born on the Fourth of July. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RaY6uK0vtGs
- David Connolly, another anti-war Vietnam vet and poet; see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLkKz03A2R8
- Ross Caputi, anti-war Iraq war veteran and activist educator regarding Fallujah; see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUsfxSJeUew
- Dr. Howard Zinn, survivor of World War II, tireless anti-war activist, and one of the dedicatees of this blog. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=subwDAZtEN0&feature=related and his essay about Memorial Day.
Let us particularly remember and honor all the war veterans living in this country today, and honor them not just by words but by activism on their behalf. Increasing numbers of veterans are committing suicide because of what they were trained to do, made to do. Thousands are homeless; thousands are drug and alcohol abusers.
If you believe the banks should not seize the homes of military men and women while they are fighting overseas or recovering in hospitals, write letters, sign petitions, call your Congressperson.
If you believe that veterans should have adequate health care, watch the Ron Kovics video mentioned above. For more information, click this link:
http://www.publicintegrity.org/investigations/broken_government/articles/entry/1041/
Veterans believed they were fighting for us. Now it is time for us to fight for veterans.
Finally, remember also the men and women currently in the Armed Forces who strive to educate their fellow citizens regarding the tower of lies that underlie our current wars.
Honor Bradley Manning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gI1iCNn_8Qk
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology