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If You Ain't Been There and Done That, Shut Your Trap

By Joe Balsamo

Sometimes I wonder how people who haven't taken part in war can speak from the sidelines and assure those on the battlefield that everything's okay, or dare to tell bereaved parents that their children died noble deaths for a noble cause.

It's sort of like men picketing against abortion. There is no way you can experience the depth, pain, and choices that a woman must consider when she says yes or no on this issue. So I say to those who think they know the answer to that question: If you ain't been there, shut up; you might learn something.

And I say the same thing to the arrogant leaders of our country who wage war on other nations and say we need to be in the Middle East for decades to "stabilize the area." It amazes me that people who haven't actually served in the military, during peace or war, are making decisions about whether young men and women should die for their country.

Many of these warmongers, who are sending us to war for god knows what reason, have never faced the reality of death. Bush, Cheney, and their cronies have no idea; nor do their children or their relatives and friends. They were all born with silver spoons in the privileged class who prey on the poor and send them off to kill for their own greedy ends.

War? I have been there and done that. During my tour in Vietnam, I held little children with their bodies burned to a crisp, and saw men and women with limbs blown off, blind, dying, demented. I once held a dying sixteen-year-old American soldier's head while his brains slipped through my fingers onto the ground. And what did our soldiers and Vietnam's civilians suffer and die for? Anyone have a clue?

I served during the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1970. I joined up when I was twenty-four years old, because I was about to be drafted. I didn't think it was the right thing to do, but I felt I had no choice. I had always been taught that if your country calls you, you do not question; you serve. I have since become proud of those who had the courage to resist the draft or went to Canada, as I always have been proud of those who served.

Now the same thing is going on in Iraq. Over 100,000 innocent Iraqi men, women, and children were killed by us because they were "collateral." We pretty well wiped out the city of Fallujah because it "harbored terrorists." And we're talking about dropping a nuclear bomb on Iran—as if this is a casual, everyday decision, like going to the corner store to pick up groceries.

Folks, our leaders are discussing murdering people, and they call other people terrorists. Isn't it about time we analyze what's going on and question who has the right to make these decisions? It is said that we reap what we sow. How are we going to justify our tolerance for and lack of protest against these murderous actions? Aren't we all responsible for these deaths?

We worry about the drugs, thefts, murders, and violence here at home, and at the same time sanction (or at least tolerate) the murders of men, women, and children by ourselves and our government. For what? We don't even know.

I must testify, for those who cannot speak, that war is deadly wrong. If there is a God, and I hope there is, we will pay for this. Shame on us! We have everything, and we use our wealth to murder and maim the poor and helpless. For this, we are evil.

Should I worry about a few nondescript cells in a woman's body, then go out and murder, maim, and steal from those who cannot protect themselves from our might? Should our priests, ministers, and leaders rail about abortion, homosexuals, divorce, and sin, but not be consumed by these murders we are committing? Shame, shame!

How can we pray to God and let this happen? How do we get up in the morning, eat, take our kids to school, go to church, have Christmas, go to the movies, etc., while allowing this to go on in our name? Why are we not consumed with anger and fear?