4 days ago
- General
- Wall Street Journal
What Do Students Think of War? A Vet Reports
I can't help but feel that Peggy Noonan wrote her column 'Memorial Day and the Best Movies of Our Lives' while wearing rose-colored glasses (Declarations, May 24). She writes that 'we're all recovering from World War II, or any war, or any era, together.' That's a nice thought, but it was far from my experience when I left the Marine Corps and went to college in 2014. I was more often called a 'cog in the military-industrial complex,' a 'mindless drone' or a 'baby-killer' than shown compassion or understanding by my peers, who had no connection to or real knowledge of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. When I tried to explain to the feminists in my English class some of the things I saw regarding the treatment of women overseas, they told me, 'That doesn't really happen.' People will always have different views on wars, but we've entered an era of denial, distortion and revisionist history. These experiences didn't end after my time in academia either. I hope Ms. Noonan will forgive me for not sharing her feelings of togetherness. Much of America has lost the plot about Memorial Day. I pray we can find it again someday.
Daniel Carpenter
