Gift Idea

By EAPrez

It's that time of year again!

That time of year when so many of us become stressed out trying to decide what would be an appropriate gift. One gift I am giving this year is a book that has been a favorite of mine since I first read it as a freshman in high school. It is one of the most compelling books ever written and its theme is very appropriate for these times. the book is entitled "Johnny Got his Gun" by Dalton Trumbo.

For those of you who have never read the book, it is a raw, riveting, gut-wrenching, anti-war novel that should be required reading for anyone still advocating war with Iraq. This is an emotional book, which puts the reader face to face with the human cost of war.

This is the story of Joe "average American" Bonham and how his life was forever changed by the ravages of a war he was asked to go off and fight and did so without question. The book is narrated by Joe and starts with a description of his life before the war. A rich life, which was, filled with family and friends as well as a girlfriend. Like all of us, he had plans and dreams for his future. Then he was asked to go off and fight in order to "make the world safe for democracy". The publisher writes:

"This was no ordinary war. This was a war to make the world safe for democracy. And if democracy was made safe, then nothing else mattered--not the millions of dead bodies, nor the thousands of ruined lives. This is no ordinary novel. This is a novel that never takes the easy way out" it is shocking, violent, terrifying, horrible, uncompromising, brutal, remorseless and gruesome....but so is war."

How even more chilling that paragraph becomes when you inject today's headlines into that paragraph:

"This was no ordinary war. This was a war to make the world safe from terrorists and weapons of mass destruction. And if the world was made safe from terrorists with their weapons of mass destruction, then nothing else mattered----not the millions of dead bodies, nor the thousands of ruined lives, not even our civil liberties."

An excerpt from the book reads:

"They were always fighting for something, the bastards...if they weren't fighting for liberty they were fighting for independence or democracy or freedom or decency or honor or their native land or something else that didn't mean anything....the most important thing is your life little guys. You're worth nothing dead except for speeches. Don't let them kid you anymore. Pay no attention when they tap you on the shoulder and say come along we've got to fight for liberty or whatever their word is there's always a word."

Those four sentences from this powerful book make crystal clear in a way nothing else ever has, why we as citizens, have an obligation to demand from our leaders that the case for war be made clearly and honestly. We are entitled to know, minus the buzzwords, what we are fighting for, what the desired outcome is, what the cost will be and how we get out. By reading this book you will come to understand that when soldiers die in a war they are not "thinking of democracy and freedom and liberty and honor and of the safety of the home and the Stars and Stripes forever." The loss of their own lives and a longing for their families are first and foremost in their minds as they face death in a foreign land amongst strangers.

The pages inside this little book have the power to change the hearts and minds of people regarding war. They have the power to make people pay close attention to the DETAILS of the events going on around us and to demand better from those who have gotten us into this war we find ourselves mired in. I believe it has the power to save lives. If it can do that, then this little book will be the most important gift one will ever give or receive.

READ AN EXCERPT