The Individual Vs. The State, An Unusual Case

[shoju]

I just cut out the most important piece of this article.

****"I don't think it's right, but it's not my place to tell him he can't do it," said George W. Westmoreland, 79, who served three tours of duty in Vietnam. "I laid my life on the line so he would have the right to do this. This is what freedom is about."****

We are always discussing the reason and causes for going to war.....many conspiracy theories are flung on the internet, so it is good that we have some real facts here.

The US got involved in Vietnam because it is so important that we can burry anyone anywhere we want! It had nothing to do with the cold war and so on.

I also heard that the first gulf war was to protect our rights to celebrate pancake day, while Saddam was finally removed because he wanted to ban peeing against trees.

You are completely missing the point of what he said, and in the process taking it completely out of context.

He isn't saying that he fought in Vietnam, specifically so that 45 years later a man could bury his wife on his property.

Wars are fought because the government sends our troops to fight them. Our troops sign up / join the military because they believe that it is their duty to serve the people of the United States and protect them. They have no control over what wars they do and do not fight. They can only control that they stepped up, and they served. Many of our Military Personnel do so, out of a desire to "protect" the rights of those who live within the United States.

This man, obviously feels that way.

It is the biggest reason that my Best Friend, and his Brother joined the Marines. They did it, because they felt that in doing so, they were saying that they wanted to defend my rights, your rights, and everyone elses rights. They did it, knowing that they would be deployed to Iraq, or Afghanistan, or wherever else the powers that be decided to send them.

You have taken his personal feelings about joining the military, and construed them for National Policy, to try and make some witty point. and it's not witty, nor funny.

OK, also on topic then. So do you think his wife notices the difference?

It's not about that. It's about honoring the wishes of those you love. It's about what he said to his wife, and his desire to hold true to that after she passes. To sound all corny for a second, that's love.


I'd have a problem with it, if he hadn't had the desire to do it right. But, the fact that he went to the trouble of "doing it right", I don't see the big deal with what he wanted to do.

Now there is the can of worms about doing it when you are denied, but telling an old man what he can and can't do, often times leads to interesting results.