I eagerly await each of your articles. You haven't disappointed me once.

I am 75, so my "war era" was Vietnam in the 60s. For whatever reason, I escaped the draft and was teaching high school juniors and seniors. Because Vietnam was the primary issue for everyone my age, and because many of my students were only a year away from possibly going to Vietnam themselves, I brought a number of soldiers into my classes to talk to the students. Most of those soldiers had come home the normal way, although one was AWOL. They introduced me to "fragging" and many other things I did not know about. Those visits left me confused, and thereafter it was very difficult to be just an anti-war protester like all my friends. I think my strongest impression from that time is the cruelty with which the soldiers were greeted when they came "home".

I don't know why I feel compelled to talk about this now. I'm obviously one of those old white men that "never served in the killing fields" and need to be relieved of their leadership roles. But I have never been nor will I ever be one of those old men who blithely send the young off to war.