Patriotism, Peace, and Vietnam

Book excerpt: Because of the War in Iraq, Hanna's book is more timely than ever. In the final chapter of her book, she wrote, "The lessons of Vietnam must never be ignored or forgotten." To her that lesson was simple: American citizens must always question our government, and we must never again sacrifice our sons and daughters to political rhetoric and unsubstantiated fears. Or lies. But we didn't learn the lesson after all. American citizens, in the name of patriotism, have allowed our government to trap us in a war that has become a nightmare. Peggy's story is one that many Americans today can relate to as she recounts her struggle with patriotism and dissent, with trying to understand why we were at war, and who was telling the truth. Peggy's story breaks the stereotype of the Vietnam anti-war demonstrators. She was a housewife and mother of five small children. The stereotype of crazed hippie college students, created by the media, caused unnecessary pain for our troops because they believed the protestors opposed them. They didn't! They opposed our government's policies, not our troops. Patriotic moms and dads just like Peggy Hanna took to the streets too but never received the media coverage that the college campuses did. She describes how much peace activists cared about our troops - a message that never made it to the soldiers dug into the trenches or to their families at home. That was one lesson that was learned. Today anti-war protestors are making sure the troops understand they are protesting our government's policies, not our troops. Opposing the war in Vietnam or the war in Iraq, does not take away their sacrifice and their honor. As one college professor said, "This is a book that all Americans should read."