When America ends a war the president talks about patriotism, how committed the troops were to their mission and how some even gave their lives for the mission. However, I have never heard or read that a president talked about the innocent civilian life lost during that mission. We simply refer to the lost as “Collateral Damage”. The absence of …

Last weekend, thousands of people attended the 50th anniversary of the August 28th, 1963 March on Washington. The various media outlets played selected segments of Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, showed pictures of the 200,000+ people in attendance, and reminded us of the impact the March on Washington had on furthering the integration movement. I didn’t hear …

During the 2012 presidential campaign, Mitt Romney talked about going to war with Iran. This was based on his defending America and its allies. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the formal name of the Mormon Church) was a strong supporter of the Vietnam War, and the clean-cut young Romney protested against the people protesting the war. However, …

image: Michelini http://www.sxc.hu/photo/693469 It is truly amazing how Congress votes. When Congress votes it seems to be based more on loyalty than what is good for America. The President Obama sent a jobs bill to the Senate that would address unemployment and the unemployed. This bill would be paid for by taxing Americans who make over $250,000 a year and according …

image: Boy with AK-47 by Kevin Laverty http://www.sxc.hu/pic/l/k/ke/kevyman/693611_78648195.jpg   Anytime you receive orders to report to a new duty station, those orders come with 30 days leave. Orders to report to the Republic of Viet Nam were no different. Instead of taking this 30-day leave at home in New York, I went to my grandmother’s farm in South Carolina. My mother …