Memorializing Victims of US Wars

On Memorial Day, we typically mourn US military members who died in combat.  But what about the millions who died at the hand of the US military, including 3 million north and south Vietnamese, 200,00 residents of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a result of US nuclear bombs dropped on those cities, and on and on and on.  

The victims go far beyond those killed in combat.  When we used defoliants in Vietnam, we left a legacy that is still being felt today--children born with abnormalities.  Unexploded ordnance used in testing and combat are still victimizing residents of Vietnam, Vieques, et al.  At lot of all.  Our sanctions against countries like Iraq, Iran, Libya, Cuba, Yemen, Sudan, Afghanistan, Somalia (and many others not named) have caused great harm and death due to starvation, lack of health care, etc.  

Albert and Frank, both veterans who experienced combat in Vietnam, talk about these victims left out of our parades, wreath laying, watchfire events, and more.  They are more than statistics but were (and are) human beings worthy of dignity and respect and acknowledgement.  And what all victims, regardless of their nationality and military/civilian status, deserve most is an end to the carnage and waste we call war and by any other name as well.