About 5 years ago, I was interviewing a veteran of WWII and Vietnam. A nice, calm, older gentleman. Told incredible stories.
Halfway thru the interview, he pauses and looks at me:
"Your generation must get rid of nuclear weapons. They are the most evil things in the world."
Halfway thru the interview, he pauses and looks at me:
"Your generation must get rid of nuclear weapons. They are the most evil things in the world."
I was slightly taken aback, and then he began to tell me why. How he had been in the US Navy in the Pacific, bombarding the Japanese mainland when they'd been told to stand off from the coast. Then the bombs were dropped. "We thought it was some Buck Rogers nonsense at first..."
Later on, in his Army career as an ordnance warrant officer, he was posted to Germany, where he was the inspector for battalions of nuclear-capable 155mm artillery. "It was terrifying, knowing that the Soviets just across the way had the exact same thing"
The way that he looked at me, the intensity in his words, those are still with me.
Remembering that conversation with keen clarity these days, for obvious reasons
Remembering that conversation with keen clarity these days, for obvious reasons
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