Deaf (to the) Toll

One of my son's childhood friends killed himself last week.  He was at home in Georgia, temporarily, between deployments to Afghanistan.  Jake had seen him this summer for the first time since he'd moved away, after their Freshman year of high school, and said he seemed to be doing well, talked about his two young children and his hopes to move back to this area when his service was done.  But something happened, and now he's another statistic, another casualty of the madness humans perpetrate upon each other.

We have been at war in Iraq and Afghanistan now for 10 years, the longest war(s) in our history.  More than 2.3 million soldiers have served in those 2 conflicts;  over 6,000 have died, more than 47,000 bear physical wounds, and the VA has treated more than 210,000 for PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder).  There was a front page story in the Times on Friday last about the incidence of suicide (and sexual assaults, which are up 30%) in the active military, and an article in The Week (from which the above numbers were taken);  suicides in the Army have risen from 115 in 2007 to 164 in 2011.  What have we gained from all of this loss?

The war touches most of us almost not at all.  Without a draft, there is only voluntary pain; we are content to let young people throw themselves into the breach for a variety of reasons, noble or misguided, prosaic or last resort, while we fret about which loudmouthed, flag-lapelled rich guy will be most likely to "take our country in the Right direction" and let us not have to think about the cost of our decisions.  The economic cost is pretty readily apparent and, as I've noted above, the media are trying to call our attention to the physical and psychological costs, but as a society we are still apparently willing to allow events to unfold as the people in power orchestrate them,  because we're too lazy to work for change, or too passively accepting of a status which has been quo, unfortunately, throughout human history or, most incredible to me,  because some people are actually in favor of armed conflict as a way to resolve disputes. Too often, we don't really even look for another way.  Try this one out:  the US has been at war for 13 of the 22 years since the end of the "Cold War," while we are the only Superpower on the planet.  WTF???!!!

So this week I'm playing songs to make me, at least, think about the young men and women (and civilian infants and children), like Jake's friend and all who have been in that position, and all who will be, who are so dramatically and perhaps permanently scarred by our warrior natures.  Not to put them on a pedestal or to call them Heroes, because, as Buffy Sainte-Marie points out in "Universal Soldier" (I'm playing Donovan's cover), they are also part of the problem by buying into the "for God and country" propaganda too, and going off to do others' bidding.   But I'd like at least to acknowledge the toll it ultimately takes on them and their families.  John Donne said the bell tolls for us all, but I don't think we can even hear it ringing anymore.

The playlist for this week contains, as I said above, "Universal Soldier," as well as such chestnuts as "It's Alright, Ma...," "Sam Stone" and "Flag Decal" by John Prine, Lucinda Williams's "Sweet Old World," and lots of "soldier" songs as well.  In addition, to mark the passing of one of soul/jazz/r&b's greats, Etta James, there'll be 3 songs of hers.  I hope you can make it.  For new viewers or tuners-in my show is on WOOL FM, at 100.1 on the dial (very) locally, or on the webs at wool.fm, from noon til two (Eastern) every Tuesday.

So I started this blog business last week and seem to have lots of hits, but only 4 full-fledged "followers:" if you become one of them, you'll (theoretically, at least--there are still evidently bugs to be worked out) be notified each time I post something.  I'll hope lots of you will join, and that some of you will be moved to respond from time to time to some of the stuff I put out there.  It's unlikely that there'll be lots of entries, as I don't suffer from graphophilia (graphstipation is more like it), but I hope you'll check in at least occasionally.  And yes, at least one of those "graphs" is a real word.

Yr. Frnd,
Mark