Compassion on Memorial Day Today as we celebrate Memorial Day in the United States we are called to honor our fallen heroes. Those beautiful souls who gave their all for us, our country, our Constitution as well as those who gave hearts se we can live in freedom. We respect and honor our soldiers and veterans, both living and passed. We do not have to like war to do this. This is a reminder of who these people were and are. There may be some very graphic details in order for me to show you what I desire to show you, but it is very important and heart wrenching to understand a little of it. This is the story of idealistic young men and women who join the armed forces to protect our country, freedom and ideals. There are those in the past that were drafted (forced to join) to fight for our nation. They were and are all doing their jobs. This is important. World War II veterans and prior were all heroes. They are ALL heroes doing the job they were recruited to do. We owe them some respect. The Viet Nam war was ugly; there is no other way to describe it. The disrespect our precious young men and some women were treated with was even uglier. The things they saw over there were beyond our comprehension. The culture there was very different. We do not understand or comprehend or try to understand these differences. We were there to help save a country. Our young people, mostly men, went there to fight for what???? They didn’t even truly understand, but they were given a job to do and they did it. They had to fight the North Vietnamese army, the Viet Cong (VC). The VC fought differently, that is/was their culture. They used men, women and children. Women and children were sometimes used as decoys or bombs. Life did not/does not have the same meaning there. These people would be used this way to blow up or distract our troops so they could destroy them. Our troops were to also kill them (the other troops). I want to (this gets ugly) say how would you feel if your troop (your only friends with you) were the ones who got blown up by a woman or child used as a bomb decoy? Just a question to ponder. There are certainly some who would snap, as would many of us, realistically. There were certainly some who were not honorable as well, but this was not the majority. The whole should have been treated with respect. There were young medics and/or nurses who were forced to triage the incoming wounded. They had to pick who they could save and who they couldn't. This was not what they signed on for. They were there to save lives, all lives. It was not a choice, it was a necessity. Have some heart, thank a vetern, soldier, sailor and Marine. The wars since Viet Nam, especially those in the Middle East have had many similarities with Viet Nam (certainly not in the numbers), but in the philosophy of the people there. Again, we do not understand this, nor do we comprehend it. They are not afraid to use women and children in their cause. There are many suicide bombers there. They use people to blow up other people. It is very ugly. Life does not have the same meaning to them, it may be sacrificed in the name of religion and belief. Our troops there may pass an innocent looking vehicle or person only to have it blow up and/or blow them up. Remember they are there doing a job. It is a job for our country. They don’t all choose to go there. Remember that. I want to say that what almost all of our troops and veterans have in common is LOVE of country and our ideals and freedoms. Thank them; they have done a fabulous job for us to the best of their ability and knowing. I love our troops and veterans both here and fallen. I respect them and honor them and hope they understand the message I am attempting to portray. With much, much love, Janice Patrice Hart