All sides were presented. I concluded that all sides were wrong. Margaret
From: OE [mailto:oe-bounces@lists.wedgeblade.net] On Behalf Of Herman Greene via OE
Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2017 9:24 PM
To: Order Ecumenical Community
Cc: Herman Greene
Subject: Re: [Oe List ...] Have you been watching the Vietnam series on PBS?
Tonight was the final session. All that the US fought for was lost. But what we fought for was an abstraction at the leadership level and at the level of noncombatant citizens, right and left, as well. On the one hand we fought to defeat Communism and keep our promises to our allies, on the other we fought for a mistake. The lives of the people involved in the war on all sides, perpetrators and victims, were forgotten.
Never has the story of this war or perhaps any war been told like it was in this series. All sides were presented. Every side was right and every side was wrong and so much, so much, so much carnage, suffering and tragedy. The armaments, the bombing, the artillery, oh my. Bullets flying by the millions.
I feel anger for our the perfidy of our national leaders and for the war crimes committed on all sides. And I, like the protester at the end of the series, feel sorry at my own simplification of the issues, for my righteous, blind resistance.
Three of my high school classmates died in the war. Now I want to go to the wall and touch their names.
I'm profoundly grateful for this amazing 21st Century Art piece. Last night reminded me of a couple of Vietnam veterans: my cousin J.Mac Cates, a career army officer, who died young of leukemia, probably caused by agent orange exposure, as well as Israel Reyna, a teaching colleague.
I appreciate this ongoing art form conversation. It has mostly been on the Reflective level. Can't wait for Interpretive and Decisional. Here's an Objective observation, though not an exact quote. An interviewee last night said that the student protests and veteran counter protests caused a divide in the country that has never healed.
I was struck by young John Kerry's speech. I felt emotional when the veterans threw their medals at Nixon's White House barriers.
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