I'm very happy the whole ugly, devisive thing is over... for us and, more so, for the Vietnamese... after all, it happened there. Having said that, I don't need to spend time reflecting on guys who ran away or who studied for unneeded degrees. I have absolutely nothing against them but I feel that, if you did your time in the service or in jail, that was memorable and manly.

On the other side of the coin, my cousin, Paddy, was drafted 9 months after he arrived in the U.S. He lost his leg and he's since lost his sight. When the medics came to care for him, him told them to see to the guys who were hurt more badly. 100 years earlier, immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Canada and many other countries acted the same way during the Civil War.