Jeffrey Blankfort wrote:
the notion that plaques should be erected in Berkeley or anywhere else,
honoring their actions is no more warranted than plaques would be in
Germany honoring the fallen members of the Wehrmacht.
JW reply:
What is wrong with recognizing the fallen members of the Wehrmacht as
opposed to the cause that they were fighting for? A war memorial does
not have to glorify war, and it shouldn't, but it can be a positive
thing to remember those who were sacrificed in war as a warning to what
can happen if we are not more careful in the future.
JB wrote:
....former GIs, marines and navy men, described war crimes in which they
had either participated or witnessed. When I was in Europe in 1970, I
was given a two-page double-spaced list of Vietnamese villages whose
inhabitants had been massacred by American soldiers. My Lai was only one
name on that list.
JW reply:
I guess it all boils down to what you call a war crime. Maybe the Army
had less discipline and moral consciousness than the Marines. In 18
months in the field in I Corps I never saw anything that even closely
resembled My-Lai, and I did see a lot of non-military assistance given
to the villages by Marine units.
I will agree that the war was wrong, and in fact I tubed my career to
protest against it at considerably more risk to myself than any civilain
protester, but I am dubious about accounts that want to villify the rank
and file and portray the war as one endless stirng of actrocities.
There was a lot of inflated rhetoric and propaganda bull shit that came
out of the left in the late 60's and early 70's, as well as the usual
crap that the right was spouting. We should be careful not to take too
much of it seriously.
-- Jerry West Editor/publisher/janitor ---------------------------------------------------- THE RECORD On line news from Nootka Sound & Canada's West Coast An independent, progressive regional publication http://www.island.net/~record/
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