Why?

Read a book. How about Ron Kovic's account, which was the basis for the film "Born on the Fourth of July. Or maybe you could read "Dispatches" by Michael Herr. The pictures these writers could create in your mind will be more vivid than anything you can see with your eyes. Why do you crave graphic pictures? If you had been in the war yourself, I'm sure you would do everything possible to have those images permanently removed from your mind. Look at the faces again and ask yourself: "What if it had been me?" or "What if that had been my father?" or "What if that had been my son?" Now ask yourself if you would want to see graphic pictures of your father, brother, son continuously flashed in front of your eyes, a constant reminder of a waste of a human life for an unknown cause. Do you wish you had been there, not as an observer as you can safely be now, but as a participant? Maybe a young, American soldier fresh out of high school, scared to death of the idea of never seeing your momma again, bewildered by the death and destruction around you. Or how about an even younger Vietnamese girl, who has no family now because they refused to leave their home, their village. Is that what you want? Do you want to experience that life firsthand? Or do you want to thank God, Allah, Yaweh, whoever, that you have never had to live through those horrors and pray to that same power that you never will.

I wasn't there, I hope I didn't offend anyone who was. The fascination with the macabre is just disturbing to me personally. I'm glad I didn't have to go through it - I respect those who did. Thank you.