They, mostly, are smiling. Warm smiles. Shy smiles. Look into the camera and smile. The smiles make it all the more poignant. They were 20, and 21, and 22, so young that they could be my child. There was one young woman, 20, caught reading, a smile about to spread on her face. Her name was Jennifer Marie Parcells. 20 and brave. She, no, they, could have been the future of the world, but their smiles will only shine in the brief silence of the roll call of the dead at the end of the NewsHour. We tell our children,"waste not, want not" and yet we waste the lives of so many, not just in Iraq and Afghanistan, but everywhere in our history.
For years, I read about Viet Nam and wondered how it could have happened. Now we see history repeat itself, even when we followed Santayana's advice and desperately tried to examine our history in the hopes of not repeating it - for nought. Perhaps, it is simply fate and Vonnegut was right - "so it goes"...and smile for the camera
For years, I read about Viet Nam and wondered how it could have happened. Now we see history repeat itself, even when we followed Santayana's advice and desperately tried to examine our history in the hopes of not repeating it - for nought. Perhaps, it is simply fate and Vonnegut was right - "so it goes"...and smile for the camera
1 comment:
I was checking out the role call of the dead. It's breathtaking how many lives have already been lost. I was trying to read up on as many as I can and spent about 45 minutes today just going through one page. One word of advice--stay off of helicopters!
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