My Hegira


OK, so I'd walked through downtown Harrisburg, and marched on DC.

My next trek was a personal one, and one that I'd like to think had an element of risk to it. You see, my Dad's a Vietnam Veteran and while "In Country" wrote a letter to the editor of the local paper about the Kent State. For those who don't remember, this was when the National Guard opened fire on a group of anti-war protestors, killing four of them.

As I got deeper and deeper into my opposition to the current "War On Terror", I felt a need to visit the memorial to the students. An attempt to tie this to a football game between my Alma Mater and Kent State failed due to travel issues, so when I went home in either 2003 or 2004 for Easter, I decided to make the trip.

My plan was to get up at 6AM, get my laundry going, and wait for my Dad and my younger Sister to leave. I would visit the memorial, take a few pics and get home before they did.

Well my Mom, who knew of my plans, released me from the remains of my laundry, and I left about Noon. A quick stop at the local supermarket for lunch, a stop to gas up the car and I was on my way.

The drive itself wasn't bad, and I soon found the monuments. For one thing the actual site is now a parking lot, a kinda metaphor for what many folks would like to do to Vietnam and the anti-war movement in general. But the memorial they did build is nice, and as you can see, I took some decent pics.

But on my way home, I wondered about how these young people sacrificed their lives unwillingly. They were not soldiers, they may not have seen the risk of their lives as part of what they were doing.