The revolution was not televised. Then came Tet.

memories come in flavors, come often in pairs. I have two versions of Tet. The time I remember, and the time I read now about then and them. I know more about other sides now than I did then, but then is when it mattered more. Then was when things could have been avoided, now they can only be remembered. Maybe they can be used, but only if… okay, they won’t be used. Oh well.

The two Tets.

On each side there were sides. This is a fact of war. Each side engaged in combat has more than one side interested in the results. More than one outcome is possible. The battlefield is just one of the battles. It is not where the war will be won since no war is won by fighting. It is never won during a battle, nor by a battalion. War is the force between armies. Armies fed by civilians.

Today those that supported the war live with those that did not. 1968 was a treadstone year. Everyone who passed by it remembers it. Probably not the same way. We passed over it then, differently, and have been taken different places since. The Vietnam war for us is the American war for them. Neither side knew how easily peace could have been struck. Neither side knew that the other felt exhausted by combat that could not deter nor defeat the other.

What happened then, was what usually happens. It is happening now over Iraq, the warriors have their way. The civilians stand by, afraid. Afraid of seeming ungrateful as they also stand by afraid of the toll of war. It takes more courage to stand up to tanks than to drive one. it takes more courage to stand for a cause, then to take a life because you are told.

this is a country of old wars, but this is not the time for old warriors. wars end not when the soldiers tire, but when the bullets run out. tanks roll until they run out of fuel. civilians have to end war, since generals won’t.