Memorial Day 2024 - FORGET WAR!

Forget War! this old veteran cried. Knowing his exclamation is a paradox. No veteran ever forgets the dread, the chaos, death and darkness of War. Some may not yet know it, or won’t admit it, but We are all veterans and combatants, since the War of all Wars was launched in 2020. Too many have already been lost.

Thank you for joining me on my first Substack post. A few know me as Jimmy Tripp. Let me take you on a little Tripp today:

“Grandfather, What was War?”.

“Oh, my child, how did you come to know to ask such a thing?”

“We found an old book on your shelf that spoke of War. It had terrible pictures too.”

Grandfather continued… “We have tried so hard since 2024 to rid the world of War, so that each of you, my beloved grandchildren, might never know the horrors of War. Rather than read that book you found I have one quote that I first would like each of you to take to heart.” he got up from the couch that was surrounded by his gaggle of 10 grand kids, and went to his bookshelf. He returned with a small, edge worn 3x5 card he’d retrieved from a small wooden box. “This is it!”, he proclaimed, as he sat down again. With his grands all wrapped around him. He read the following:

“War is the immutable, unremitting absence of Sanity.”

His oldest granddaughter asked, “Who wrote that Grandfather?”

“It was written by a young man, a Navy sailor, when his ship was returning home from War, the Vietnam War.” he replied.

The oldest child chimed in again, “Grandfather! In your closet, we have seen your old dark blue sailor uniform with the angry dragons embroidered under the cuffs of its jersey. Grandfather, was the sailor who wrote what you just read YOU!!??”

Gramps admitted, “Yes, my darlings. I wrote that. And, those colorful embroidered dragons were added to my uniform when we had liberty in Hong Kong in 1972.”

“Tell us more Granddad!”, the youngest of the boys exclaimed.

“I will tell you this. We, my ship and my shipmates were the lucky ones. After much tribulation of many months in the combat zones off the coast of Vietnam my ship sailed home unscathed. We left behind on those shores and in those jungles too many dead. And, I prayed from that day forward that none of my children, and you my grands, would ever have to be a part of the tragedy and horrors of War. I have prayed too that one day all peoples of Earth would no longer support the Wars and the War machines. Also, that there would be a day when we no longer had to memorialize those who died in Wars because their Spirits arose and manned the empty warships and all the planes and ghastly beast war machines, and then sailed and piloted them all into the sea, the Abyss, forever into eternity, rid our planet and all of humankind, of the dread of War.”

His oldest granddaughter asked, “ Grandfather, we found something else in that old book about War. Can I read it to everyone right now.?”

“Yes, please do my child.” Grandfather replied.

To all her siblings and her cousins she read…

war was 
no more bombs
no more missiles
no more drones for Christ's sake,
nor in the name of God.

no more suicide warriors,
no more misogynous oppression,
no more infidel murders and genocide,
nor in the name of Yahweh and Allah. 

no more death.
no more destruction,
no more blood stained earth for the sake of Profit,
nor in the name of gathering Oil. 

no more secret surveillance, data strip mining.
no more dead end, hidden prisons.
no more torture for Democracy's sake,
nor in the name of Freedom's preservation.

no more pandemic scamdemic tomfuckery lies,
no more gene altering bio weapons.
no more tyrannical, maniacal medical killing fields, 
nor at the behest of Megalomaniacs. 

In the name of Human Dignity,
for the sake of our Liberty Divine,
forget our hubris laden delusions of Grandeur.
Forget our Wars --- reject the sounds, the implements of Destruction. 
before we are annihilated one and all. 

J.L.Ward III, Oct. 2012 (revised Jan. 2024)
Excerpt from (yet to be published): 
War Was - The Devil's Advocates' Answer to: How We Value Life

*** This Memorial Day post is dedicated to the memory of my friend, 1LT Robert Doten, who in Jan. 1971 was killed while serving in Vietnam with the U.S, Army, and also to my best friend and cycling partner, Herbert Wolff who on Dec. 31, 2019 succumbed to cancer resulting from exposure to Agent Orange when he served in Vietnam in the 1960's. 

Thank you so much for taking time to read my message. I look forward to and welcome your comments. God Bless.