As I write this Memorial Day is coming to an end. Yet those who fought and died in our nation’s many wars will be remembered forever by their loved ones and will continue to be honored by a grateful nation for their service on behalf of the rest of us. Having never fought in a war, I cannot imagine what it is like to face each day readying yourself for battle. Nor can I imagine what it was like for the many who until the draft ended after Viet Nam went to war because their government required them to do so.
When I went to college the draft was still in place, but I was given a student deferment by my local draft board once I certified that I was a full time student. Later when I decided to enter the ministry I received yet another deferment. Our involvement in Viet Nam was limited at the time so it wasn’t an issue I thought much about when I received my deferment. But by the time I finished college and entered seminary it was. It eventually claimed one of my friends. His name was Bobby Unrue. He was a teammate of mine on our high school football team. He was a good running back, tough and quiet, a nice guy all of us liked a lot. Many times since then I have run my fingers across his name that is on the wall of the Viet Nam War Memorial in Washington.
I have often wondered what my life would have been like had I not gone to college, or I had not entered the ministry. With a father who spent eleven years in the army and was as rabid a West Point football fan as there was, military service was always something I figured I would do at some point. Then Viet Nam happened and war protests eventually led to the draft system being changed to a national lottery. As luck or fate would have it, my name never came up. Then the draft was ended entirely. Going to college was something I wanted to do, and something my parents expected my brothers and me to do. But we had to have scholarship help or it was a no go. I often wonder what I would have done had I not received one. Would I have opted for the army in hopes of the G.I. Bill paying for it later? I don’t know the answer, but I do know that if I had done the latter I would have probably ended up in Viet Nam.
Even as we remember all the people who have died in war, it seems to me that genuinely honoring them would include asking ourselves why at this point in history we continue to believe war solves problems, rather than seeing war as part of the problem. It is in fact the clearest symbol I know of the insanity of which human beings are capable. I recognize that nations can be drawn into wars they do not want to fight. That happened to the U.S. in both world wars, especially WW II. But it seems we as a people have become all too quick to think of war as a viable alternative to international problems. It was only a few weeks ago that Congressional leaders were insisting that our nation go to war with Syria, this while we are still in Afghanistan (for a reason no one seems to know) and also residually involved in Iraq, a war that should have never been fought. What is more, as a nation we seem to have accepted the notion that we should be in a perpetual state of war with terrorism.
The one thing history seems to show repeatedly is that people never think about the awfulness of war until it is too late. Southerners let out a rebel cry when the Civil War started. By the end the toll was devastating, including more than 600,000 American deaths. WWI, WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, Iraq, Afghanistan – they all had the same end. Maybe it’s time for us as a people to listen to calmer heads when war talk starts, to remember that war never ends war, but lays the groundwork for another one. Maybe it’s time we as a people honor those who have fought and died, not by arming ourselves to the teeth as if that makes any sense, but by learning the ways of peacemaking, by trying to build bridges of understanding, by seeing children as deserving to have a chance to live a full life. That, I suggest, would be the best Memorial we could possibly offer in honor of those who have already fought and died in too many wars.
