Pardon me if I misunderstood, but I thought from your previous posts Matriot that you were discussing your family and the United States. I have no knowledge of conscripts from other places.....I was talking about this place and then and when you say, "Spaw, I think the idea that 16 to 18 year old boys knowing what a conviction is, let alone what their own are, is pretty unrealistic. Especially when they've been brainwashed for all their brief liftetime about the glory of war and serving one's country," I'll have to take issue with you on it.

Most of us I think had a good idea what a conviction was and many felt it a strong need to fight for their country. Some waited to be drafted and others hoped they never would be. Some saw a different war and chose not to go. Now I grant you that at that age the decisions made are not always the best, but then again, I'm 53 and that's still true. However, I don't think we make bad decisions at the moment we decide. We don't intentionally say, "I think I'll make a stupid decision." In retrospect many of them are, but when we make them we do so because we believe it is the right thing to do.

And yes, as I stated above, we grew up on a diet of Pearl Harbor and Ira Hayes, but some chose for varying reasons to go against that even if it was strongly "inbred." They chose to accept the punishment of the government in some way and for some reason. No matter why, they followed a conviction. Others went to war and I think for many the conviction was certainly there. Afterwards, some may have wished for otherwise, others could justify their actions, and some were left with nothing to have any conviction with. My point here is that we were all victims and many, if not all, followed their beliefs at the time.

So for all of those who acted in their belief and for what they believed to be in the best interests of their country, I pay my respect on Memorial Day. And I also pay my respects to some who have fallen for the country in other types of warfare, even the ones who truly had no choice, like the 4 little girls in Birmingham in September or '63. But that's another story.......

Spaw