“Happy Memorial Day, an oxymoron” | Alan Pogue
I deeply apologize to the Vietnamese people for having been part of the U.S. military assault on their country in 1967-68. One cannot be a hero and a war criminal at the same time. I joined the Vietnam Veterans Against the War as soon as I could. There was a hero in the War against Vietnam, Warrant Officer
Hugh Thompson (photo courtesy of Alan Pogue)
Hugh Thompson. Thompson was a helicopter pilot who confronted William Calley and saved over one hundred Vietnamese from the massacre at My Lai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson,_Jr.). His door gunners pointed their machine guns at U.S. soldiers so that Thompson would have cover for saving more Vietnamese civilians. The wars against Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan are equally as criminal as the war against Vietnam was. War is big business, the Military-Industrial Complex. As president Eisenhower warned us it would the Military-Industrial Complex is now in charge of our foreign policy. President Obama made William Lynn, a chief lobbyist for the Raytheon Corporation ( makes the guidance systems for the Cruise and Predator missiles) a deputy secretary of the Pentagon. Now the federal government is paying Raytheon’s lobbyist. This is not what Joseph Campbell had in mind. As Plato pointed out, being courageous is meaningless if the purpose of the action is not just.
On May 31, 2010, at 10:09 AM, Kirk Watson wrote:
Happy Memorial Day
May 31, 2010
“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”
— Joseph Campbell
For all of the heroes we’ve lost, and to all of the heroes who are still with us . .
We remember. And, say thanks.
www.kirkwatson.com
Copyright Kirk Watson | Political advertisement paid for by Kirk Watson for Texas Senate
P.O. Box 2004, Austin, TX, 78768; Rosie Mendoza, Treasurer.
Tags: afghanistan, Alan Pogue, Hugh Thompson, Iraq, Kirk Watson, massacre, Memorial Day, military-industrial complex, My Lai, Pakistan, Vietnam, Vietnam Veterans Against the War, war, William Calley
