I joined the Navy in 1963 because I had a draft notice in my pocket and I was not a pacifist. I was much luckier than many. Just because I am not a pacifist does not mean that all war isn't crazy. The real lack of respect for all veterans comes from those who consciously avoided service and now feel qualified to put our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, friends and lovers into the inferno for reasons of their own. There is a good reason that the most vigorous objections before Iraq came from Colin Powell, the only person in a position of high responsibility who had ever been shot at.