Reading Reflection #5: The Past Justifies the Present

In response to: “Empire of Death and the Plague of Civic Violence” by Darrell Y. Hamamoto

            President Theodore Roosevelt once said “I should welcome almost any war, for I think this country needs one.” Well, the United States sure hasn’t disappointed him. Turns out in its 235 years of existence, the US has been at war during 214 of those years. That comes out to about 91% of the time. According to Hamamoto, all these years at war have made American citizens vulnerable to murderous tendencies. Serial killers, like Ted Bundy and Jeffery Dalmer, all seem to have connections to the military or wars. Both personal or indirect war experience and trauma were factors in turning men into murders.

Don’t get me wrong, I understand the traumatic nature of war. But to use war as an excuse for killing is infuriating. I don’t care if it’s in the midst of war or after the fact, murder is a huge no-no. I hate it when murders claim the war messed with their heads. They killed so many people over there and can’t help their violent streaks now. Most soldiers don’t come back home and kill every person that looked like the enemy. 

I especially hate the amount of media a soldier gets when he kills here in the states compared to what he did in East Asia. When a soldier kills here, the media does special reports and investigations into the murderer’s past. They dig up where he’s from and every little tidbit about his family life. They claim the soldier was a normal American. The media claims it was the war’s fault. How can you possibly justify killing someone now with something that happened in the past?

What's worse, they ignore what the soldiers did while at war. All the lives they ended back in ‘Nam were nothing. Soldiers killed dozens and ruined who knows how many lives during the war. But that’s okay. They were at war. All those innocent men, women and children were the enemy. It was okay to kill them. These stories aren't worth reporting. The public doesn't need to know anything. It dehumanizes the victims. All those people weren't worth recognition, let alone some justice.

Is killing okay in times of war, or is it still just as wrong?

Linda Wei

Section A01