From June 1998 to August 1989 I lived and worked in the greater Washington, D.C. area. In one job I worked in an office building with ready access to the White House and Capitol Mall. During lunch and after work, I frequently walked the mall to see the monuments. I was regularly drawn to the Vietnam Memorial. As you know, the Vietnam Memorial has black granite panels upon which are etched the names of all our fallen military service men and women in chronological order of their deaths.
An Internet search reveals that a typical panel contains 685 names.
In the current congressional campaign season, much has been made of the two major parties” position on the Iraq war. I find the events in Iraq and their parallel to our nation”s Vietnam experience to be very relevant. I expect our president to respect all human life and to work vigorously to protect it. It is irrelevant to me whether the president learned to value human life from experiences in combat, from the sidelines or as a war protester, so long as the lesson has been learned. President Bush”s decision to prematurely abandon diplomacy and pursue war has convinced me that he hasn”t learned to truly value human life.
Ultimately, the Iraq war will end and in 30 or so years after its end, Congress will be debating the type of memorial to create to honor our Iraq war dead. If we choose to build another memorial wall, we already know the names to fill the first four panels.
We can influence that future debate this coming election. We can take a step to deprive the Iraq memorial of more panels. We can vote to remove the acolytes of a president who is too free with the lives of other people”s children.
Michael H. Friel
Lower Lake
