I heard
a young man say,
“I threw rocks at kids so I wouldn’t have to shoot them.”
I heard
a young woman say,
“On my team we called kids TITS ‘Terrorists in Training’.”
Straightening his back
name on his jacket now readable
the young man said,
“I’m a big guy. I was called into prisoner interrogations. I
was a given a bat. I didn’t have to hit them, just make noise, yell, bang
things around.”
Pulling her camos around her
Delicate hands resting on a journal
The young woman said,
“You might think its just robots, but you have to remember
there are people behind them making them move, pushing the buttons.”
Said the young man,
“I remember the beaten prisoner returned to us by Iraqi
police. His testicles black, he asked for medical attention. We sent only women
medics. I do no know what happened to him.”
Said the young woman,
“I was called ‘The Harbinger of Death.’ What’s the
difference between a gun and shovel when you are four miles up in the air?”
I saw
sadness on the man’s face as he recalled,
“I was called a pussy and a faggot when I didn’t want to
shoot at a man in a car with his children.”
I saw
pain on the woman’s face as she remembered,
“I knew people who asked for help and they are no longer
with us. The only way they could get help was to take their own lives."
He
the brave one
speaking his truth to power
seeing the humanness of the other
She
the strong one
breaking her silence
bringing her darkness into the light
Courageous ones
he and she
baring their hidden war wounds
for me
for us to see
bearing their -
NO
bearing MY
NO
NO
bearing OUR
war burden
Like the lines from a catchy pop song that hook my brain
cells
I cannot banish their words
Like the cicada outside my window that disturbs my sleep
I cannot banish their words
Pop songs fade away
Cicadas mate and die
But their words
His words
Her words
form a knife
Cutting easily through my gray matter
to lodge in my heart
And it hurts
On this Memorial Day I remember and give thanks for my Uncle Paul, veteran of The Battle of the Bulge. He never spoke about it. He bore his/our burden in silence.
I remember and give thanks for my neighbor Larry Houck, II and all the other names I touched on that Wall in Washington.
I remember and give thanks for my father and all family and friends, living and dead, who bore/bear our war burden.
I also remember and give thanks for Henry David Thoreau, David Dellinger, Grace Paley, Bayard Rustin, David McReynolds, A.J. Muste, Steve Cary, Asa Watkins, Austin Reiger, the Berrigan Brothers, Elizabeth McAllister, Andy Mager, Naed Smith, Ann Marie Judson, Bradley Manning and all war resisters living and dead everywhere, who (like it or not) bore/bear our war burden in other ways.*
I give thanks for Kyle Quigley and Heather Linebaugh who so recently reminded me that not all war wounds can be seen with the naked eye, some must be seen with the heart.
*During World War II 6,000 men rejected the draft and went to jail and another 12,000 chose some form of alternative service from working in mental institutions to volunteering for experiments. One of out every six men in US Federal Prisons during World War II was a draft resister. An excellent short resource on these resisters with links to documentary footage is found here. In addition, I also recommend the PBS documentary The Good War and those who Refused to Fight it.
UPDATE 5/28/2013:
Some written materials you might want to consider. By no means an exhaustive list, just some things I've read.
I remember and give thanks for my neighbor Larry Houck, II and all the other names I touched on that Wall in Washington.
I remember and give thanks for my father and all family and friends, living and dead, who bore/bear our war burden.
I also remember and give thanks for Henry David Thoreau, David Dellinger, Grace Paley, Bayard Rustin, David McReynolds, A.J. Muste, Steve Cary, Asa Watkins, Austin Reiger, the Berrigan Brothers, Elizabeth McAllister, Andy Mager, Naed Smith, Ann Marie Judson, Bradley Manning and all war resisters living and dead everywhere, who (like it or not) bore/bear our war burden in other ways.*
I give thanks for Kyle Quigley and Heather Linebaugh who so recently reminded me that not all war wounds can be seen with the naked eye, some must be seen with the heart.
*During World War II 6,000 men rejected the draft and went to jail and another 12,000 chose some form of alternative service from working in mental institutions to volunteering for experiments. One of out every six men in US Federal Prisons during World War II was a draft resister. An excellent short resource on these resisters with links to documentary footage is found here. In addition, I also recommend the PBS documentary The Good War and those who Refused to Fight it.
UPDATE 5/28/2013:
Some written materials you might want to consider. By no means an exhaustive list, just some things I've read.
- Black Elk Speaks by Nicholas Black Elk and John Niehardt
- The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane
- Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier
- All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Marie Remarque
- A War in Words: The First World War in Diaries and Letters by Svetlana Palmer and Sarah Wallis
- For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
- A Few Small Candles: War Resisters of World War II Tell Their Stories edited by Larry and Lena Mae Gara
- The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien
- Bloods: Black Veterans of the Vietnam War by Wallace Terry
- Vietnam: A History by Staney Karnow
- Generation Kill by Evan Wright
- Band of Sisters: American Women at War In Iraq by Kirsten Holmstedt - On my to-read list.
