AMERICAS FODDER SOLDIERS

They are never referred to as people. Boots on the ground that is their official title. To have a war and make the politicians and capitalist rich, they must be deployed. There is no real profit in just bombing people. You have to have all of the amenities that goes along with death. My brother was a true soldier. He was in Vietnam and killed many people he didnt know. In turn, the government he worked for killed him. It is called agent orange. For years he died, as if he was coughing up his lungs. To forget about the dying and killing that he did, he became a alcoholic, amongst other things. This is one of the affects the Kennedy assassination had on our family. Just as the state government in my case, it took along time before the government finally admitted to the horrors of the war, and even longer before they confessed the war was a military ploy to satisfy the hunger of corporate America. It was not until he was almost dead that they tried to compensated him for the injustice. But, by then, he was just a shell of the person he was when he came home. I can remember the day in the seventies when he walked through the door with his uniform on. It was more like 2004(thirty years) or so that they began giving him his benefits. But, he didnt really want them, it was too late to live any type of life worth living. In 1982, I started my basic training in the Army. I signed up for six years and did them, although I knew I would never do it again. You dont understand the abuse that you are made to endure, just to one day be killed. The Reagan Administration gave me pause to ever re-up. Not to mention the racism that existed, especially for someone like myself trying to get a college education. The last thing officers want in the military is a black person telling white people what to do. Things havent changed that much.. I went through doors as an officer thinking I was doing the right thing, only to be left in the condition that I am currently in. When you take your profession seriously, and you have honor in your character, you really dont have the presence of mind to question your superior officer. You are too busy trying to survive. Because of his small body structure, my bother was a true ground mole. He didnt like to talk about it. Sometimes, he would scare the daylight out of you the way he would abruptly jump up from his coma like sleeps, only to catch himself. He would immediately take a drink, with sweat rolling down his face. We nicknamed him Killer. His demeanor and character was anything but that. He never hurt a fly, my entire life with him. He never slept at night. If you ask him what was going on during one of his flashes, he would chuckle and shake his head and exclaim, Vietnam boy, I tell you boy. Rough, shaking his head, taking a drink. He told of how he almost died right when he got their because he couldnt swim, as they landed him right in a swamp. There is not a drug he didnt take, but nothing helped. I hope all the soldiers that ever participated in War give back their metals. My brother, although decorated, never took any joy in his. He regretting ever going. He felt as if his country sold him out. It was a private thing with him. Nothing like dying of war injuries suffered at the hands of your own people, and knowing you killed innocent people. Heres to you Richard, RIP. I hope you arent resting though, just looking in from the other side.