Book Reviews and Money Saving Tips

War faced us in the 70’s. Vietnam was foremost in our thoughts as we aged. A good lottery number was often life saving. Iraq faces today’s kids and many do volunteer and some die. In the several years after high school I had many friends who never came home. Sadly today I know some kids who have given the ultimate sacrifice for their country . I wore my ROTC uniform proudly in 1966 and wrote to my buddies who served overseas. Too often those same guys weren’t treated well when they got home. A positive change today is that at least our Vets are being accorded the respect they deserve. It doesn’t mean one whit what you think or feel about the current wars, the kids fighting them are just that, kids who deserve our respect and compassion. There was war then and there is war now, human nature and historic precedent indicate that we will always have war somewhere.

I awoke last night at 3:00 a.m., in tears. I dreamt of the impact our war is having on families. My tears were for parents, children and spouses who have lost a loved one. I don’t want to get into a diatribe on our current war. That is being endlessly debated with emotion, passion and sadly little reasoned thought. I want to dwell on the pain that war has brought to our society. Is there anyone who has not been touched by loss? I know too many people who have lost someone close to them. My son’s friend was one of the first to die in Afghanistan. Your children should not have to face the loss of their peers. The local paper has being doing a series of articles on a local boy who died in the war. I suspect that those heart rending articles are what precipitated the dream or nightmare as it was. It doesn’t matter what you think about the war, the reasons, good or bad that we are in it or how we can get out. What matters is making sure that those who have sacrificed are not forgotten. Maki...