What were the chancesBottoms up gentleman that his uncles Ed Ben Fritz Ray Chester Joe all fought in World War II and came homeAnother round bartender

they didnt talk about their experiences  maybe among themselves but he wouldnt have been privy to that

they let him sit at their knees before the coffee table if he was quiet while they watched professional football or hockey on the black and white console as they talked smoked drank beer sipped whiskey

that was his communion with them

and when the game was over and their cluster was breaking up they would make a point of walking over to him roughly rub his crewcut and tell him hed been a good boy

he was welcome among the men of his family

as long as he remained quiet

as a teenager he wasnt

Boy you got a mouth on you

Refute me

        Vietnam then was their point of contention

I deliver the newspaper every dayI read them inside out  I watch the television reports  There isnt a damn thing right about the warIts a war even if Congress hasnt declared itLooks like a duck Walks Sounds   Its a duck    I see profiteering the engines of capitalism well-oiled slickly greased and them not giving a goddamn about the boys dying the boys who butter their loaves of bread

You should leave the room boy  You havent a clue about what youre talking aboutwhat war is

Then refute me  I can listen to reason        Refute me

they glared

        they picked up their sweating cans of beer the bottle of whiskey the shotglasses and left

they knew men who diedsaw men die

those were men in a just war an existential war

Vietnam wasnt

not Korea

every war or action since wasnt

it was domination

subjugation

Wall Streeters had trouble walking home for their trouser pockets stuffed with paper money

Vietnam was war by Americans against Americans fought in a foreign country  proxy

1436. Monday -- Memorial Day – also JFKs 100th birthday,  29  5. 17