This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War.

[Stinky The Clown]

We all know it if we but stop and think.

It seems like it was just yesterday, that era.

JFK was president.

[Faygo Kid]

1. 247. That was my lottery number.

You never forget that number. You got it in the year you turned 19.

The year before was the first year of the lottery, and I turned 18.

My number would have been 1. It was a huge story, with the numbers pulled live on national TV. I thought that would be my number, and I will never forget it. Or the lousy war.

The older I get, the more anti-war I get. For every WWII or Civil War - inevitable - you have Cheney's warmongering Iraq or LBJ's Vietnam. Totally unnecessary. I hate war.

[spiderpig]

2. Mr pig enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1967

His dad had enlisted the day after Pearl Harbor, so he grew up on the tradition of duty and honor. Also, the family didn't have the money to send him to college.

He flew 400 missions in Nam, while I was protesting the war at my liberal university.

He carries the scars of what he saw to this day. And this is a guy who gently clips our cats' claws and gives a few bucks to people on the street who are down-and-out.

Meanwhile the corporations are cashing in big-time on the war machine.

I guess this is a day for us to stop and think.

[Faygo Kid]

4. Great post. Thanks.

Please give him a hug for me, and tell him why.

My family isn't very military. Immigrants from Sweden and Norway around 1910. Dad served in WWII, but he deserted the family. One uncle too young then, and the other an engineer at Ford who was too valuable stateside to be drafted. He was brilliant, and contributed much.

I was lucky. Just a year or two too young to go to Vietnam. Now, I hate war. The older I get, the more I hate it. But I cherish your dad's service. And my cats need their claws clipped. Is he for rent?

[spiderpig]

5. Nobody can make a bed like Mr. pig!

You know the tradition of bouncing a quarter on a sheeted bed? Me - it's throw the stuff on the mattress and go off for a glass of wine. Not him.

Faygo Kid, nothing means more to Mr. pig than The Corps - yet he's the gentlest soul in the world. Four of our cats are buried out in the yard, and he cried digging each grave.

I suppose in the continuing Repuke economy I should consider renting him out for feline mani/pedies. (I love to watch him while he says "Now we're going to do the first toesie...&quot

This is the same guy who kept sponging me down with cool cloths when I was sick with flu and a 104 degree fever.

I'm a lucky woman.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

3. I remember the politicians who demanded we "stay the course" in that lost war.

And, now they're doing the same in another lost war and shedding crocodile tears over the ones who died for their ambitions.