The trauma of being there; the conflict at home about being there. It didn’t take long for the protests to start. The longer the war went on, the greater grew the protests and violence at home. Massive civil unrest. Domestic opinion turned against the war and it ground to a halt. It had gone on for 10 years. Over 50,000 U.S. soldiers died. It left our country divided.
Now, in a period not of ten years, but of six months; one twentieth the time of the Viet Nam war, the lives of 150,000 Americans have been lost. Three times the death toll of the Viet Nam war in six months. Every individual life lost has a heart-wrenching story, but at this magnitude of carnage, we’re just watching numbers roll past on the television screen. Where is the outrage? Where is the civil unrest? Where is the political will against a common enemy? The sacrifice we’re being asked to make for the common good is to wear a mask, and we can’t decide whether to do it or not?
Can we just wear the damn mask?