empathy

I see the face of a young brave marine on the front page of the paper. He served his country , came home and told he had to go again. He could not in his soul face the horror again. I don`t know the young man at all and very little of the facts of the reports. I just know how it makes me feel.
We as a people the world over have not yet evolved out of the mind set of War to settle our lack of understanding of other cultures, ideas or beliefs. Educated, mature elected or inherited leaders of our global world choose to send our children to the slaughter. They are not provided with the necessities of the war they have been sent to fight. They are ordered to give more than they volunteered to give. Then they punish a soldier who just can`t take it anymore and makes a poor choice in how to get out of it. If he told the truth he would be ostrasized and called a coward and still have to serve time in the brig with a dishonorable discharge. I feel deep sympathy for the family of the young man and all others who have faced such unspeakable sorrows of war.
Yes, I am a senior citizen and have seen much. My family sacrificed one, and two others wounded in WW2 . My father was gone from home for 3 years . We as a family sacrificed much and we were proud of our country. We had a victory garden, my mom painted her legs with pretend nylons so parachuttes could be made for our boys over there. I am patriotic still and am proud to be an american. And we need to grow up and take resposibility and seek other solutions to our problems. Amen