By Wim Laven

March 30, 2020 "Information Clearing House" -  When I was a young boy, I used to play war, and watch movies that celebrated violence. Rambo showed the awesome potential for a single devoted patriot to turn the tables on evil. I had a glamorous account of war, and as an 8-year-old I did not understand why my father cried when we went to see the award-winning movie “Platoon.”

A year later we visited the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington DC, and while I was looking at my reflection on the marble—ignoring the letters in front of me—he was searching for names. I learned that the names are on the wall in chronological order of loss, and that more than 50,000 people are thus remembered. My father cried again, when he used a pencil and paper to make rubbings of the names of classmates who had been drafted—and died—fighting in Vietnam.

I was a curious child, and I asked questions. I learned about the draft, and the understanding, that there may be a time when would I could be asked to die for my country—like his classmates had. I remember sharing my fears during Operation Desert Storm, “what if this lasts long enough that I’m drafted?” People thought I was silly, “we won’t be over there that long…” funny, it seems we never left, and now I’m being asked by a President who avoided the Vietnam War with phony bone spurs, to make the sacrifice, and be willing to die for my country.

Donald Trump, as well as other Republican leaders, have made it clear that American citizens should risk our lives to defend the economy and stock market, their definition of our country, apparently.