Tried to post this last night - kept throwing errors - so, going to try again...

Just to be troublesome - I find it interesting that there was nary a word of protest over the threads on ANZAC Day or the various discussion on Eric Bogle's "No Man's Land."

Could it be that folks are upset specifically because Memorial Day was originally set aside to honor the War Dead of the US? That General Logan's (by the way, Logan Avenue in Lansing, Michigan was named for him) General Order whatever to the Grand Army of the Republic to set aside May 30, 1868 to place flowers on the graves of the dead marked the day indelibly.

I wonder if there will be a similar protest over Armistice Day/Veterans Day/Remembrance Day in November.

Conscription is rarely viewed as a good thing, particularly by those conscripted nation-states. Right? Conscription practiced by war-lords is kidnapping.

Invariably, in a free society that practices conscription, there will be change. The blood-bath that was the Gallipoli campaign resulted in the decline of the Colonial mind-set in Australia and New Zealand and a rise in the self-identity - national identity if you will - of those far-flung branches of the empire.

The conscription of WWI led to social changes in the UK following that war - which set up an entire series of changes that were accelerated by MORE conscription in WWII, which set much of Britain's class-structure on its ear. (Think its bad now? Try living in your great-grandparent's time... ick.)

Similar things happened in the States following both World Wars. Draftees returned home having seen amazing things. Some were terrible, others were amazing. They had walked through buildings hundreds of years old when the oldest building in their home town was maybe 75 years old. They were changed not only by combat, but what they sensed and felt. Many folks in the States on this board grew-up living in the society that resulted from those changes.

Returning Viet Nam Vets, who were conscripted, marched alongside anti-war protesters and eventually helped bring an end to that war. This also brought an end to the all-powerful view many had of the government. People began asking questions for the first time in generations. Some were hard to take and resulted in all sorts of amazing things.

Combined with the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-war/anti-draft movement shook the center of the nation to its very soul.

Do I criticize those who answered the "birthday present" of the Viet Nam era? No. Nor do I criticize those of the 1940's and 50's. Most (not all) went because it was a dirty job and felt that if they did it, maybe their kids would not need to. That is something that is not in vogue these days among the elite intellectuals - Duty, Honor. They are powerful words. Don't despise them because people have mis-used them to their own ends. They symbolize high ideals - among the highest there are among humanity.

My oldest grandson in 8 years old. I will do everything I can to see that he does not need to "study war" and that he might study mathematics and geography - so that his children might study philosophy.

Set rant bit off <_>

Pete