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Notes From the Boonies

By Paul Wisovaty

My Administrative Assistant in the probation office tells me that I'm not all that bad a guy, but that I have an annoying habit of whining. Following my column in the last issue of The Veteran, readers may be forgiven for arriving at the same conclusion. I asked Nam vets to help me figure out why we were so often dissed, or at the least not much appreciated, once we came home. I mean, it wasn't like we started the damned war. How did we wind up being the bad guys in this scenario?

I also confessed that, with thousands of men, women and children dying in Iraq and Afghanistan every day while I re-live some past slight to my ego, my forty-years-later question might be more than a little irrelevant. But, the editors printed the column anyway, possibly for no other reason than – you guessed it – they didn't want to put up with my whining if they didn't.

I received three letters. The neat thing about them was that they were from vets from two different wars, Korea and Vietnam, and a civilian who worked with Army Intelligence during Desert Storm. I sincerely appreciate their having taken the time to write me, and allow me to share their thoughts.

The first letter I got was just signed "Korea GI Joe," from a reader who served in that war from 1952-53. He gave me quite an earful.

"I'm a Korean War vet responding to your question, 'Is Iraq Vietnam all over again?' Have you considered that the Iraq War is probably in its infancy compared to the length of the Vietnam-Cambodia (read Iraq-Iran) War supported by both Democratic and Republican administrations? And if our Iraqistan 'volunteers' and soon draftees decide to refuse to slaughter and die anymore for Exxon Mobil, and US imperialism (I realize that your group is in denial about that term) is forced to pull out, do you expect any different reception for them than the reception when you returned from Vietnam? Both political parties support Wall Street's long range main strategic goal – dominance of Mideast oil for however long it takes, no matter what they say. And they will fight to the last drop of our blood, if we let them."

I am not certain why Korea GI Joe thinks that VVAW may be offended by the term "US imperialism," but I doubt that many of our readers will disagree with what he had to say. Thanks, Joe. If I had any idea who you are I'd drop you a line to say that, but hopefully you're reading this now.

I got a second letter from Scott Peer, who had, as a civilian, been working with military contracts for over ten years when Desert Storm broke out. He is now involved with IVAW. Scott writes that "The Gulf War made me feel completely betrayed, like some crazies stole my work. I was working Army Intelligence. People I had considered friends smiled and talked about 'killing sand niggers.' The military was targeting civilian facilities like water plants and factories hundreds of miles from the front, and slaughtering innocent civilians and POW's. Afterwards I quit in disgust, as did many of my co-workers. Many of us feel that the current military is working against us, and working against the interests of our country. People like Cheney and his stooges, from generals to privates, are destroying the US and Iraq. Some push back from within, but some are criminals pure and simple. I feel that those who are criminals should be locked up, not cheered."

Thanks a lot, Scott. Isn't "stooges" a strong word, though? Oh, I get it. You were referring to Bush and everyone else who works for the Veep.

Finally, I heard from Arnold Stieber, a Vietnam vet from Michigan. Arnold puts 'Welcome Home' in the same category as 'thank you for your service' and 'defending freedom' and 'protecting our country,' and describing the military as 'service.' All these words make you feel good about your involvement in the death and destruction industry."

Yeah, Arny, us Americans sure love to feel good about everything we do. We feel good about the good stuff we do, and if we have to we find a way to feel good about the bad stuff too. As with No Gun Ri, many American's position has always been that if somebody else kills unarmed civilians huddled under a bridge, or invades a sovereign nation, those are war crimes. But if America does it there must have been a good reason. Double standard? Hell no! If you have any misgivings, just contact your local American Legion representative.

I do however look at "Welcome Home" in a different light than "Thanks for your service." I have always thought the former to be a Nam vet to Nam vet thing, pretty much apolitical, as a way of recognizing that no one ever said that to us forty years ago. Just my take; I may be wrong.

Arnold attached in his reply a piece he had written called "War is Slavery – An Awakening." I would like to finish up by quoting briefly from it.

He says that "my research revealed that the main causes of war are money and markets. There is always plenty of flag waving and bluster about the 'evil ones,' but every war I've studied, once you begin peeling back the layers, has money and markets as a common core...War is only failure for one side. For the other side, war is magnificent. It is the best business in the world. High profits, little competition, products rapidly used." Arnold refers to works by Howard Zinn and General Smedley Butler, both of which reinforce what I have just quoted, and with which many of our readers are familiar. I would only add a line from Platoon, to which Arnold also refers. King, an uneducated but street-smart draftee from rural Tennessee, is talking to Taylor, a middle class white kid who dropped out of college because he believed that "we should all do our part in this war." King's response, following a long toke and exhale is, "Shit, man. The rich always f'***in' over the poor. Always have. Always will."

I think that says it all. If you're interested in reading all of Arnold's piece, and you should be, just give him a call. He is listed in The Veteran as a Michigan contact person.