Coming of age in the 60’s, I was very familiar with what it meant to be a citizen of “the greatest country in the world”.
After all, as a son of the Greatest Generation, I knew:
I was fortunate to be sent to Libya, rather than Vietnam; to be allowed to perform support functions for air crews that flew NATO training missions, while protecting the interests of Big Oil in Libya.
I was young, clear headed, patriotic and naive. While I never experienced the blatant waste of taxpayer dollars in SE Asia, I certainly witnessed enough of it in Libya.
But, it was the blatant waste of American lives, in SE Asia, that was difficult to understand.
I wasn’t there, but with a TS SCI security clearance, I had access to information (official and unofficial) that certainly looked like my country was more interested in maintaining high dollar defense contracts than actually winning the war.
When Neil Sheehan first broke the “Pentagon Papers” story, the whole nasty mess, that was our involvement in SE Asia, started to come out in the open.
But, it wasn’t until I read his subsequent book, “A Bright Shining Lie”, that I fully understood how so many young men, of my generation, had been sacrificed, merely to beef up corporate earnings and fill the pockets of those who “owned” the war.
I first enlisted in ‘68; I retired in ‘88.
The first installment of the “Pentagon Papers” came out in ‘71; Neil’s “A Bright Shining Light” was published in ‘88.
I served a full 20 year career, while Neil was trying to tell this story. But, once he finally published it, in a way that made sense, to even me, the screwing of my generation became obvious.
Later generations have been laid waste and trillions of dollars spent, in later wars, in support (primarily) of Big Oil, under the auspices of “spreading democracy” and “quashing tyranny”.
But, it’s really all about money and power, with no regard for average Americans. It’s ok to waste taxpayers and taxpayer dollars, as long as Americans remain addicted to oil products and big corporations and their shareholders get richer.
My generation didn’t have the luxury of the warnings of “A Bright Shining Lie”, we trusted and learned (or didn’t) the hard way.
But, it’s available to everyone now and it should be taught in high schools and should be required reading before anyone goes to “War! What are we fighting for?”.
At any rate, I wanted to make note of the passing of a true American Patriot. Neil never officially served our country, but he certainly tried to serve all of us!!
After all, as a son of the Greatest Generation, I knew:
- I should “Ask not what your country can do for you. But, what you can do for your country.”.
- I should volunteer, it was my patriotic duty to be willing to die for my country.
- If I didn’t volunteer, I would be drafted and would still be allowed to die for my country.
- Whatever happened, I was comfortable in the knowledge that my country would always have the backs of every American.
I was fortunate to be sent to Libya, rather than Vietnam; to be allowed to perform support functions for air crews that flew NATO training missions, while protecting the interests of Big Oil in Libya.
I was young, clear headed, patriotic and naive. While I never experienced the blatant waste of taxpayer dollars in SE Asia, I certainly witnessed enough of it in Libya.
But, it was the blatant waste of American lives, in SE Asia, that was difficult to understand.
I wasn’t there, but with a TS SCI security clearance, I had access to information (official and unofficial) that certainly looked like my country was more interested in maintaining high dollar defense contracts than actually winning the war.
When Neil Sheehan first broke the “Pentagon Papers” story, the whole nasty mess, that was our involvement in SE Asia, started to come out in the open.
But, it wasn’t until I read his subsequent book, “A Bright Shining Lie”, that I fully understood how so many young men, of my generation, had been sacrificed, merely to beef up corporate earnings and fill the pockets of those who “owned” the war.
I first enlisted in ‘68; I retired in ‘88.
The first installment of the “Pentagon Papers” came out in ‘71; Neil’s “A Bright Shining Light” was published in ‘88.
I served a full 20 year career, while Neil was trying to tell this story. But, once he finally published it, in a way that made sense, to even me, the screwing of my generation became obvious.
Later generations have been laid waste and trillions of dollars spent, in later wars, in support (primarily) of Big Oil, under the auspices of “spreading democracy” and “quashing tyranny”.
But, it’s really all about money and power, with no regard for average Americans. It’s ok to waste taxpayers and taxpayer dollars, as long as Americans remain addicted to oil products and big corporations and their shareholders get richer.
My generation didn’t have the luxury of the warnings of “A Bright Shining Lie”, we trusted and learned (or didn’t) the hard way.
But, it’s available to everyone now and it should be taught in high schools and should be required reading before anyone goes to “War! What are we fighting for?”.
At any rate, I wanted to make note of the passing of a true American Patriot. Neil never officially served our country, but he certainly tried to serve all of us!!
Pentagon Papers Reporter And Vietnam War Author Neil Sheehan Dies
The Pulitzer prize-winning journalist who broke the story of the Pentagon Papers for The New York Times has died at the age of 84.
www.huffpost.com