Letters of appreciation to military veterans and active-duty personnel written by students at Springdale’s Southwest Junior High and published Nov. 10 brought back memories, even tears, to this old Korean War veteran. I am very moved by the musings, diction and eloquent prose penned by these thoughtful, knowledgable and maybe even future leaders of this great nation.
Little Rock native Gen. Douglas MacArthur once said “In my dreams I hear again the crash of guns, the rattle of musketry, the strange mournful mutter of the battlefield.” Yes, we who have seen, even smelted the agony, atrocities, death, pain, suft ering and total destruction brought on by war, do pray that our sacrifi ces would or could somehow attenuate any thoughts that war solves problems. Humans slaughtering humans is not equitable to a civilized society. War only manifest’s the savagery of man.
I find one undeniable truth resulting from war: You can only defeat or be defeated. A truce, as in Korea is nothing but a shaky respite from the slaughter. In war, nobody wins anything. Winning/ losing should be confi ned to games. War is no game.
We veterans, like Gen. MacArthur, revisit our memories not only in dreams but also nightmares/sweats and even in our waking hours. Highly trained to kill and to believe that death of our adversary is much more important than our own fragile lives gives one pause to regress and sometimes to re-evaluate the eftectiveness of our actions. We that were there will be burdened and bound by these mental chains till our earthly journey ceases.
Thank you students of Southwest Junior High. Thank you parents and teachers for instilling the values of caring and compassion for others in these students whom I consider exemplary. My very sincere blessings to all of you as your kindness and compassion made my day.
AARON R. STRATMAN
Bella Vista