My grandfather served in WWII under Gen. Hodges in Patton’s army. He didn’t talk about it. He never wore camouflage again, or military green, and I don’t think he ever fired a gun again either. I think it pretty much scarred him for life. I don’t think it’s easy to understand what being in a war is like. You can’t understand it from watching the news, there are movies, and books, and documentaries that help you understand it a little better, but without going through it, I don’t know how we’ll ever truly understand the hell on earth that is war.

We glorify it. I admit, I enjoy playing shoot-em-up games. I love Call of Duty and other WWII games. I enjoy the history of it. But I’m sure that we can only have those kinds of games because we have some distance from them. I’m sure it’ll be only a matter of time before there’s a first-person shooter where you have to escape from the World Trade Center before it collapses, or you have to try to kill the terrorist before he crashes into the towers. I’ll give it 10-15 years.

My dad tells stories of my grandfather’s survival reflex kicking in during 4th of July celebrations. When he’d hear a loud noise, he would hit the deck immediately.

Recently, a couple of shows have given me a greater understanding of what he might have gone through. Tom Hank’s HBO series Band of Brothers is based on real people and real events. There are episodes in it that give you a brief glimpse into the psychological toll of the war. And the recent PBS mini-series The War also gives you first-hand reports from those who were there. Telling stories on film that you probably couldn’t tell in polite company 40 or even 20 years ago.

Our veterans have been put through hell in our name. We should honor their sacrifice and service by staying out of unnecessary wars, thus my use of the original name of today’s holiday. WWII came about out of the disastrous policy decisions after WWI. Nothing happens in a vacuum.

I’ll admit that I was suckered in by the Bush Administration in the lead-up to the Iraq War. I have an admiration for those who weren’t. They were right. I get emails forwarded to me talking about the good things we’re doing in Iraq, how many policemen they have now, how many hospitals we’re building. Truth is, even though they were under the despotic Hussein, they had more police and order and schools and hospitals before we showed up. Sure their lives weren’t great, but were it not for their oil, we wouldn’t be there. People don’t like to believe it, but it’s the truth. War is good for the state, and we are a warlike people. “No,” you say, “we’re a peaceful people.” How do you explain this then? At the height of the Roman Empire, the Romans had an estimated 37 major military bases scattered around their dominions. At the height of the British Empire, the British had 36 of them planetwide. Depending on just who you listen to and how you count, we have hundreds of bases. According to Pentagon records, in fact, there are 761 active military “sites” abroad. [HT: Tom Engelhardt]

World War II didn’t start in a vacuum either.

Controversial, but interesting nonetheless: Thanks for the Freedom, Vets.

Excerpt: In America, we enjoy the freedom of giving half our income to the government through various forms of taxes. We have the freedom to participate in a Ponzi scheme known as Social Security. We have the freedom to vote for the president. Unlike the voters of Iraq under Saddam Hussein, who only had one choice for president, we have two choices!

On the subject of our next scheduled war in Iran: Documents linking Iran to nuclear weapons push may have been fabricated. C’mon…they wouldn’t do that, would they?

“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.” — H.L. Mencken