Last Post!
At first, I thought that Gambones book seemed alittle to “patriotic” and glossed over many of the troubles that veterans faced, but towards the end of the reading segment I think that it picked it up a bit and told about some of the struggles that veterans truly faced after the war. Overall, I think it was nice summary of what happened after each war and it was a nice last reading.
I was alittle surprised when reading “Wages of War.” I thought it would close by focusing more on veterans in general instead of primarily of Vietnam War veterans. Although, the final message seemed to be a good, strong one. It reminded the reader that the more you know, the more educated you are and as a result, you will better be able to hold government and people in general accountable. In this way, Servo and Milford believe that pressure can be put on the government so that they can correct the mistakes of the past and give veterans the rights they truly deserve.
Finally, I really enjoyed learning about the Iraq War veterans. It is very current and relevant to today’s society so I think that is why it was interesting to listen to and read about. Also, sometimes I think that we tend to forget that some of the problems that veterans faced during the World War I or the Revolutionary War are still problems that many veterans face today. In other words, we like to think that things are better now and while they are in many respects, the treatment of veterans could greatly improve in other areas as well.
I think the reason the epilogue talked so much about the Vietnam war was because the Vietnam veterans were the ones that were still alive.
I also really enjoyed learning about Iraq War veterans. I think it is important we understand the problems they are facing so we can treat them better than veterans of other wars.
There’s something to be said about a book being too upbeat. Especailly one about this subject. It may have been more helpful if Gambone showed another side and played devil’s advocate more.