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I Have Become Everything I Hate, Part 2

“White man finds an opportune moment to reflect on the absurdity of life”

War & Pizza Hut, Volume 3: The End Of The American Empire

For previous entries, please see War & Pizza Hut: Volume 1 and War & Pizza Hut: Volume 2

The End Of The American Empire

My Grandfather was in the engine room when the kamikaze happened. Zero plane shrapnel sheered through the destroyer. South Pacific waters gushed inside. Naval protocol was to close the engine room hatch immediately to keep the ship from sinking more quickly, leaving other men trapped in the engine room. Fred should have been one of the other men. He was unconscious after an engine safety valve exploded into his neck.
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War & Pizza Hut: Volume 2

For the previous entry, please see War & Pizza Hut: Volume 1

Vietnam

My “uncle” would not go to Vietnam. Some of his friends fled to Canada. Others loped off part of their trigger fingers. He settled on a less permanent escape. The night before his Army evaluation he chugged coffee and pounded bars of butter. When he showed up the next morning, the tester gasped at his blood pressure readings. Normal blood pressure is 120/80, but he racked up 100/150. He was a miracle to be alive, let alone fight in a war half across the globe.

Vietnam was the ignominious chapter when the American Empire got its dark streak. Man fought machine and man, unfortunately, won. If JFK’s assassination was when America lost its innocence at home, Vietnam was when America lost its innocence abroad. (see: The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964). Now, it wasn’t the first time the U.S. started a war under false pretenses (American Indian Wars, Mexican War, Spanish-American War) or the last (Iraq), but it was the first time America picked a fight and lost. And 58,159 of America’s finest paid the ultimate sacrifice. 58,159 sons, brothers, and fathers died because President Johnson couldn’t admit he was wrong.

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War & Pizza Hut (Volume I)

My Grandfather was in the engine room when the kamikaze began. Zero plane shrapnel sheered through the destroyer. South Pacific waters gushed inside. Naval protocol was to close the engine room hatch immediately to keep the ship from sinking more quickly, leaving other men trapped in the engine room. Fred should have been one of the other men. He was unconscious after an engine safety valve exploded into his neck.

Continue Reading

Trying To Fix The RSS Feed

If anyone knows how to fix the problem of blank lines appearing before syntax and thus creating an XML parsing error in the RSS feed, I will love you forever. We are using WordPress 3.0. Kisses.

-The Admins

UPDATE: Fixed. Thanks for the help!