As I watched the reading of the names of the fallen at the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington D.C., it was obvious how many different families were affected. Some of the names were first and last name only, then there were first middle initial and last, but the most frequently called names were first middle and last with around a fifth of those followed by “the second” or “the third”. What was also obvious was the multinational or ethnic complexion of the names. America is truly a melting pot for the entire world.

As we honor the dead, significantly seen in honor guards, taps, and rifles discharged, we should keep the wounded in mind as well. Besides the physical wounds with their handicapped results and amputated limbs, there are the psychological wounds, with their therapy modifications and untreatable states. My wife’s uncle came back from WWII and sat in a chair until the early fifties, staring straight ahead not talking or responding in any manner.

Armistice Day, November 11, 1918 was the day the guns finally stopped on the front line. In the hours just prior, over 10,000 had to die from orders to fight until the appointed hour. When the hour arrived soldiers from both sides dropped their guns and jumped up out of their trenches to mingle with their mortal enemies just seconds before.

The name has been changed to Veterans Day, I guess because the world never left the guns on the ground after the “War to End All Wars”. Too bad the world didn’t get that war over with early in civilization like 5000 B.C.

No other word in our language carries as much pain as the word war; the fallen, the wounded, the disabled, the families, the refugees, the ongoing hatred and resentments which usually lead right into the next war. God help us all from becoming the next victim of the word war.

By Lloyd H. Frye
Op-Ed Columnist
The Hot Joints