"I had been in thirteen battle engagements, had sunk a
submarine, and was the first man ashore in the landing at Roi. In that
four years, I thought, What a hell of a waste of a man's life. I lost a
lot of friends. I had the task of telling my roommate's parents about
our last days together. You lose limbs, sight, part of your life--for
what? Old men send young men to war. Flag, banners, and patriotic
sayings... We've institutionalized militarism. This came out of World
War Two... It gave us the National Security Council. It gave us the CIA,
that is able to spy on you and me this very moment. For the first time
in the history of man, a country has divided up the world into military
districts... You could argue World War Two had to be fought. Hitler had
to be stopped. Unfortunately, we translate it unchanged to the situation
today... I hate it when they say,"He gave his life for his
country."Nobody gives their life for anything. We steal the lives of
these kids. We take it away from them. They don't die for the honor and
glory of their country. We kill them." -- Admiral Gene LaRocque
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