Mr. Poulson expressed it perfectly. I was one of those anti-war “self righteous” people during that time. The protesters I was involved with sympathized with, welcomed home, supported returning Vietnam vets; some who were friends, and others who never made it back. We made common cause with ‘Vietnam veterans against the war’; but not just. It was about all vets in an all around, to put it mildly, unjust war.

I experienced “ultra violence” later while living in fascist Athens Greece in 1973 during the height of when the Greek Navy, Air Force, some Army units mutinied, alongside massive student and popular ‘protests’ and revolts occurred. Libyan fighter jets were buzzing the city, I saw tanks rolling into crowds spreading ketchup into the gutters, automatic gunfire sprayed into the crowds, our sixth fleet sitting offshore meanwhile. Some good friends were never heard from again. I barely made it to Paris.

Another good example of “just how thin the veneer of civilization is, “is the Great Depression, the Great Recession etc., brought on by small groups of really self-interested greedy, power hungry people at terrible consequences to the vast majority.  Republicans being able to convince so many people to go along with their anti-social ‘agenda’ is an ongoing good example.

It isn’t just humans in extreme conditions; it’s the under-lying currents of passive/aggressive cowardly greedy nature that threatens to totally undermine foundational institutions considered bedrock, unchangeable. Just look at what Trump’s Republican party is doing.

Also, to date, more Vietnam vets have died from suicide than combat operations and injuries. War is immoral, and we have to fight every day to safeguard freedom, no matter what.

Claus Dietrich
PORT LUDLOW