I was lucky and came home unscathed. About 15 years ago I was in Washington D.C. and decided it was time to visit the Wall, the Vietnam Memorial. I was flabbergasted. I hated it. I left after a short stay. This shocked me, I went back the next day and the reaction was even worse. I could not get away fast enough.
I view the wall as a hole in the ground. It had none of the soaring grandeur of the grave of the Unknown Soldier or the Iwo Jima Memorial. It was a black hole that kept sucking me back. It was what it was, a list of all the good men and women who had died. It was a place to mourn.
I have come to realize it was a rather good representation of the Vietnam War and war in general. A black hole sucks in stars; this black hole represents good people who were sucked in by the war.
It did not get my patriotic juices flowing like the above ground monuments to war. Maybe, just maybe if we stop glorifying wars with monuments, we will be more cynical when it comes to starting the next war.
The glorification of war, war heroes, and battles won all make it easier to do it again and again. It makes young men and women sign up for service.
A simple cemetery with white crosses, small flags and some flowers better represent the sacrifice. Memorial Day has become a three-day frolic, to be off work, out of school, to go shopping, camping, boating or go to the Folklife Festival. Most have no feeling for what it represents. It has come to means nothing.
The time has come to face the cruel reality of war. Good people die and monuments should be a place to mourn the terrible loss of these good people.
Having been there and done that, had I died, I would not want to be glorified in this manner, to be a sacrifice for freedom.
Our freedom has not been at risk in the last two or three wars. In many wars, we were lied to.
I was told I was going to prevent the fall of all of Southeast Asia. There was no attack on the Turner Joy, and Southeast Asia did not go Communist. Vietnam united under communism. From a visit last year, my 40th anniversary of my first trip, Vietnam has become a poster child for capitalism.
It was a lie. The dominos did not fall. If we stop glorifying war, maybe, just maybe, we will stop fighting them.
The Wall may be our most appropriate memorial, it truly shows the loss of war - name by precious name. It is a place to deposit notes, flowers, combat boots, and medals.
It is a place to grieve. It is a black hole. It does not inspire us to do it again.
Fred Quarnstrom
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