I have strong feelings about this. I was a little on the young side and maybe protected from protests, but I am definitely more of a pacifist.

Do I trust government? I don’t want my family or friends or anyone to be used as ammunition for a government that I don’t trust.

There are good people, and there are bad people. The system is set up so that power wins, and the trustworthy people aren’t always the ones who win.

We knew people who went over to Vietnam. The kid down the road from us went, and he died. His sister was a year younger than me, and I knew her. I remember him going away with a big block party.

He might’ve been missing in action. I never knew for sure. It wasn’t like the family got a call and he was not coming back. There was something to say about the whole situation. His name was John Shagle.

I used to worry about my husband, John, being drafted, but they ended the war. John had a draft number that was fairly low.

I think wars are an abomination. I don’t think there’s any way that forcing people to do something at gun point is going to change their ideas. Whoever thought of war as a way to solve issues is an idiot.

What would I tell kids who are thinking of going into the army? Something like this: if you want to give away all the control of your life, and become the ammunition in someone’s gun, just realize that your life is as dispensable as a bullet.

War is beyond what any sane person would think is a good idea. It’s asinine.