War

War

War for anyone who has not been involved,

Is incomprehensible,

You have been pregnant,

Or you have not been,

You do not know,

I do NOT know,

We have three brothers,

None served,

I love war movies,

I know marines,

Other service men and women,

They love war movies, too,

The Vietnam War,

The lottery,

My year was the first year,

If you were #71 or less,

You went to war,

No deferment,

Before the lottery,

(I happened to be #192, so I did not have to go)

I said to my father,

“I am going to be a ‘conscientious objector’,”

My father had served in the Navy,

My uncle served in the Navy,

My grandfather served in the Army,

My father said to me,

“I respect what you are saying to me,”

“They will ask you questions,”

“For example”,

“If some men were to come into our house,”

“If they wanted to do something to your mother,”

“Would you stop them if you could?”

I said, “Of course I would!”

Then he said,

“As much as I dislike war”,

“Then son you will have to fight for us,”

“That is what I did,”

“If you are willing,”

“We fight for the defenseless,
“We fight for freedom,”

“It is hard,”

“But, sometimes we have to stand up to bullies,”

That is the last time we talked about this.

Peter Lowell Paulson
November 12, 2014