Memorial Day

 I come from a line  of soldiers, sailors and Marines.

I am the daughter of a Marine.  And the niece of a career Marine.  I am the granddaughter of a Navy seaman turned Navy aviator. (Granddad Greene became an aviator in 1920, after his service in World War I.)  All three of them served honorably in the Pacific theater in World War II.  My uncle's service continued on through Korea and Vietnam; my Dad's through the Marine involvement in China in the post-war period.

My ancestors fought in the Civil War (mostly for the Confederacy, alas) and, on my mother's side, the Revolutionary War.

I have the utmost respect for men and women in uniform.

I was from the start opposed to the war in Iraq.  I have come to oppose the war in Afghanistan.  People who hold mine and similar views were frequently (and still are) accused of "not supporting the troops."

Wrong.

I support the troops.  I think they should be paid a decent wage and their families back home cared for during their service and after they return home (or more sadly in cases where they don't).  They should be given the equipment best suited to keeping them safe in the field. Care of returning injured veterans, whether they have physical or psychological wounds, should be a top national priority.

They should never be sent to places we have no business being in to begin with.  We should never squander their lives or health to fight for any but the gravest reasons, by which standard neither of the current wars qualify.*

The analysis of that is for another day.

Today, I wish to salute and honor those who did what their country, rightly or wrongly, demanded that they do, and paid the ultimate price.  May God grant peace to their souls and their families.

*Peacekeeping missions with NATO and the UN are complicated issues; I have still not figured out where I stand on those.