Memorial Day is harder than it looks, because the honest version contains a contradiction and refuses to resolve it. Reich calls Vietnam a cruel absurdity sold on lies, and he is right. Robbie still went. The duty was real and the war was not, and both of those things stay true at the same time.
We owe the day to the soldier, not to the war that consumed him. The men who sent Robbie did not deserve him. That does not make his answer foolish. It makes it the only clean thing in the entire transaction, the one act in the whole sorry chain that was not a lie.
This is why the transactional worldview cannot hold Memorial Day at all. A ledger needs the loss to balance, and this loss does not. Robbie’s body was never recovered. There is no column where that is recouped.
He carried the crate up the stairs because the crate needed carrying, and later he answered a call for the same reason, and the call was unworthy of him in a way the crate never was. We remember him anyway. Not because the war earned it. Because he did, and the distinction between those two things is the whole of what the day is for.
It was good for my heart to read about someone like Robbie, but I'm so sorry about such an enormous loss.
There are many like Robbie around, and they will be the ones to eventually pull everyone together in the same spirit as he had. They will rebuild our society and help us recover from the massive trauma this regime has put us all through. Thank goodness for the Robbies in this world, men and women of good will and good heart
Yes indeed there are many like Robbie around. They are the children and youth of today and lets hope the children and youth of today will have opportunities to witness greatness in America as well as world-wide. However, it is all up to us to find ways to allow the children and youth to at least have the experiences to witness greatness.
For children and youth it very well could be a chance to at least see greatness standing at a podium and delivering a talk. For me in 1956 at only 7 years old it was our grandmother who took us kids to see Dwight Eisenhower in downtown Seattle. Did we kids understand it all? No. However, grandmother knew something. She knew to get us kids out there and being a part of something. Did I become a lifelong member of the GOP? NO. I became an activist for social justice and environmental stewardship and environmental issues in 1969.
Were my interests in social justice and environmental issues born from my opportunity to see a President in 1956 at 7 years old? Maybe?
I have drifted a bit from talks of Robbie. However, I'm sure Robbie was able to witness greatness when he was a child too. . .
Dwight David Eisenhower, a military hero who knew war first hand, WWI and, of course, WWII, and who, in his 1961 Farewell Address that was 10 minutes long on national TV, per the National Archives (one of OUR valuable and beloved institutions that has been harmed by Thump in so many ways), spoke the words at his Farewell Address that include his famous caution about the "military-industrial complex" but also spoke eloquently otherwise to the nation. His words will follow Dan Goldman's below. I ask you to put Eisenhower's words of Presidential transition in contrast with Thump's seditious exhortations in order to overthrow our government, hold power, and proceed later to be re-elected for three reasons, per Congressman Dan Goldman:
"“Donald Trump ran for office for three reasons: 1) to stay out of jail, 2) to exact revenge on his enemies, and 3) to line his pockets. Everything else he says is bullshit.”
In contrast from a real President and a genuine "fellow American," Dwight D. Eisenhower from his 1961 Farewell Address to the nation:
"My fellow Americans:
Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.
This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.
Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.
If I could have voted during Eisenhower's election, I would have voted for him. I have always voted for who I thought was best for the office, regardless of party. I've been registered as Democrat, Republican, Independent, and now Other.
Yes. And.... "It is not for us to finish the task; neither may we desist from it." ~From Wisdom of the Ancestors/ Pirke Avot
Almost 45 years later I am still heartsick at the idea that young RR's young friend, a very special kind of caring young man, and so very many others, had to go there. How not to grieve, for Robbie, for the other Americans, for the countless Vietnamese, who all deserved to just live their normal lives❓ I demonstrated in NYC & DC, wrote letters, volunteered at printing T-shirts, adored (and still do) Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, et al, who really made our message passionately public, supported the gutsy politicians like Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman who were with us as we were with them, got into arguments with colleagues. And grieved, constantly. It is STILL up to We the sane People, to do anything and everything we can, to nonviolently stop the insane war machinery.
Yes "we can not desist," Joyce! reminded of John Kerry, later bizarrely "swift-boated": 'How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?'
Yet John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, lost to a other scion of wealth who weaseled out of military service because if his family 's influence. Americans chose to re-elect a mediocrity in G.W.Bush.
And it was "W." Bush that really undercut John McCain using typical Republican (before it became all MAGA-Thump All the Time) "dirty tricks" as they were known (and widely known.) They put out stuff that would damage McCain with Republicans about his child, for example- and doing that revealed so many things about America itself, the racism, among other aspects, but it did damage McCain. And I have always thought that McCain chose Sarah Palin as his revenge against the Bush ploy and the Republicans. However, instead, it inflicted Sarah Palin on America and thus began the decline in what we once thought were standards for President-VP. That myth was exploded with her presence at the top ticket.
the swiftboating was almost magaesque in it's unamericanism-but Kerry only responded belatedly-these infernal ideas,once they've taken hold,are hard to dislodge-like brainworms
So hard to believe, in retrospect. (Always was!) From time to time, I joke, we'll see the rest of the Epstein horror when we see George Bush's military records. They actually demonized Kerry's service while burying Bush's AWOL! Not to mention, never deployed.Then they dressed him up and trotted him out like some real deal. I am the widow of a guy who was in country with the Marines in Korea, and we both were and now, me, outraged!
Kerry, got swift boated. One example of the depravity of political attack ads. How about what Trump said of John McCain - that one stupid ignorant comment should have disqualified him in everyone's mind. But like so much that he has gotten away with.
Harvey,what do you with an american populace who is incapable of thinking beyond an 8yr old. Tech has made sure people stay stupid,uniformed and only concerned about # 1.
This tribute, Professor Reich, is so touching and so pointed a criticism of the current resident of the White (and gold) House. Your friend’s belief in duty to one’s country is, itself, an important value to foster in all of us. The challenge, in my opinion, lies in determining what it is that duty to our country consists of. Robbie did what he believed to be correct, as did you during the Vietnam War period. Both if you demonstrated your understanding of what’s in the Constitution. Both of you were correct (again, in my opinion). Both of you deserve respect for your choices then. Robbie’s kindness and generosity are qualities I wish we all shared.
Joel--No, bone spurs do not go away, shrink, or dissolve on their own. Once your body deposits this extra bone tissue, it is a permanent structural change.
Susie, the truly depressing part is how war can turn a good person into a killer, one who can torture others, can commit crimes against humanity. We see that in every war/conflict, but often try to cover it up or excuse it as part of the pressure of war. It doesn't matter the reason; it happens and people are changed forever, and for what!!
It's good to realize that between Kent State and the withdrawal from Saigon, 5 years elapsed. Learned this from Andy Borowitz's presentation. It took that long for Americans to turn against the war.
Meighan,thank you for the reminder.War is a huge moneymaker,always has been.HOw about our old friend Dick Cheney and Haliburton. If only americans would remember history?
I wanted Christian Bale (Gloria Steinem's stepson) to get the Oscar in 2019 for portraying Liz Cheney's creepy (to say the least) dad! But Rami Malek grabbed it away from him.
Meighan, actually, it took a lot less time than the 5 years mentioned here. Many Americans were opposed to the war by 1968, far more than were for it, but Nixon got elected claiming he would end the war; he lied. He expanded the war into attacking other nations like Cambodia and Laos, killing millions.
The lies being told by the Pentagon helped to keep an impossible, horribly destructive war going, just as so often happens. We gained nothing in that war, lost over 58,000 Americans to death and many many more to disability, and millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians. I weep for the horror of it. I knew it was wrong after a 9th grade civics assignment, having to keep a journal through Feb. 1968, daily describing what was going on in the war. I usually listened to the news of the war, but was forced to fully pay attention. It changed my life. It made me think more critically and to demand more of our government. both Bushes decided to ignore the lessons of Vietnam and jumped into wars that should never have happened, and many more were killed and in my opinion, for nothing!
You’ve written very thoughtfully here. Robbie was used for an evil purpose. He was lied to. Did he ever know it? When Robert Reich spoke about him at the end of the Coffee Klatch, he didn’t mention his objections to the war, and I think he should have. He made it sound as if Robbie died for freedom and democracy. It’s true that people honestly are going to have mixed feelings about Memorial Day. I marched against the Viet Nam War, too.
Thank you both. What I am holding space for in both Reich’s remembrance and your reflection is the distinction between the systems that fail people and the human beings who still choose to act with dignity inside them.
Robbie’s kindness seems to have carried through every layer of his life. Not because the war justified it, but because service, compassion, and responsibility had already become part of who he was long before Vietnam. That feels important right now in a world increasingly shaped by transaction, performance, and self-interest.
Your final line especially stays with me: “We remember him anyway. Not because the war earned it. Because he did.” That carries the weight of Memorial Day more honestly than most public narratives ever do.
Johan, BEAUTIFULLY SAID! I remember hearing that troops coming back from Vietnam were treated badly, but I never saw that where I lived in my hometown or at college. The war, among my family and friends was seen as appalling and just plain wrong, but the people sent to fight were not for the most part. I remember hearing the body counts each Friday for that week and crying that so many lives on all sides were now dead or wounded. I wanted those fighting there to come home and for Vietnam to be rebuilt better with better leaders. That didn't happen for a very long time. For a high school speech class, I presented an oral interpretation of Phil Ochs poem "I Declare the War is Over." My classmates told me they had tears while listening to it. I sang the last 2 lines. My teacher was moved too. Maybe that was because I truly believed it. Memorial Day brings up those memories and again I have tears for all those we have lost and I wonder in some of the cases, could we have avoided the war altogether had those in charge considered other approaches.
Yes it is Memorial Day and I'm going to visit my parents and grandparents and all other family members who are buried there. Later I'm going to the military cemetary at the former Fort Lawton in Seattle to visit all the kids I grew up with who died in Vietnam.
Right now as I'm writing this I'm going to get real and just say to everyone the following: Everyone; please do your best to do your right thing and remember to vote at the November 2026 mid terms. This may not be the right day to be be saying this however there is an undercurrent of a blue tsunami coming (according to Reich) and the 2026 mid terms could make or break this blue tsunami Robert Reich has spoken about. Thank you. Dean.
It doesn’t surprise me that he was from Hawaii. When I visited there I found the people I encountered to be very friendly and kind. Aloha is a way of life.
If not for the Suckers and Losers, as Trump calls them, he wouldn’t have the freedom to become the president. Trump may be the most disrespectful person ever.
On Memorial Day, I always keep alive the memory of the tail gunner on my father's B-17, flying out of Grafton-Underwood England to bomb the Nazis in France. It was June 13, 1944... the first mission for my father, the bombardier at age 20, and for Sgt Ralph Watson, the tail gunner at age 19.
Flak was heavy, but they had to keep going to finish their mission and bomb the rail lines. During the fight, Sgt Watson was hit by flak in his right buttock. He bled profusely until the squadron returned to base. Dad recalled that Sgt Watson was white as a ghost by the time they removed him from the plane and took him to the base hospital. "I'll never forget that sight as long as I live," Dad said 45 years later. Sgt Watson died a few hours later. Dad survived that mission and others, but he lived the rest of his days with PTSD.
I made it my task to research as much as I could about Ralph Watson. He was newly married... only about six months. And his wife was pregnant. After he died, she tragically lost the baby. He's buried at an American cemetery in England, far from his family. During my research, I found his wife's name. She remarried, but her obituary never mentioned Ralph or that she'd been widowed. That broke my heart.
But I did locate his medical records and I found a niece and a nephew in New Jersey. Thanks to the internet, I was able to obtain their contact information. They told me that family lore said that Uncle Ralph's plane had been shot down. Not true, I said. I explained that he'd been fatally injured, and I provided the medical records for them.
So, Sgt Ralph Watson is who I remember on Memorial Day. A 19-year-old newlywed, hoping for his first child that never was to be, fatally injured on his first bombing mission. Buried far from home, with nobody to visit his grave site. Not acknowledged by his widow in her obituary. Known only vaguely by his niece and nephew.
But the flag that flies on my home has his name written on the white binding. His name and my father's name. Crew members united on my flag.
Donna - For doing what you did for his memory and caring to set the record straight for his family I humbly thank you. You’re one hell of a woman!
My father still won’t talk much about his time in war but if he did, and there was a person like Ralph Watson to seek for, I would gladly follow your example.
It was simply the right thing to do. I've made friends of the children and grandchildren from Dad's air base, thanks to an online memorial site. It's one big benefit of the internet!
Donna - Maybe there are others out there who knows something about all of other Robbie’s and Ralph’s and will hopefully follow your example. As you pointed out - we have the internet now. It’s never too late to change another person’s life.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Donna! What a beautiful tribute to Sgt. Ralph Watson by someone who cared enough about him to locate relatives and share the real story of how he died in the war. What an honorable way to remember him and your father on Memorial Day.
Wow. Respect : "closure" for fellow soldiers' family! I had the rare privilege of a tour thanks to family of one of the few restored B17s still flying. At my age (!) I learned what "the whole nine yards" means. But it is the people who matter. Your journey of caring about the person in the history is awesome!
My husband and I took my father to see a B17 at a local airfield 20 yrs ago. I wanted to see the plane he flew over Germany. He was the commander pilot of the crew at age 19!! Hard to believe! He was one of the younger pilots.
It was quite emotional for him and for us as we went inside the plane and he proceeded to tell us all about the crew and the areas of the plane that each was charged with during the mission!
He did tear up when he entered the cockpit where he was the pilot . What was amazing was how large the plane was, but very small cramped space for the crew!
My dad died in 2007, but kept up with his crew through letters and reunions !
Yes, those planes were so cramped inside because they were just loaded with munitions. They were not even insulated because they needed all necessary space to carry bombs and bullets. And without insulation, they were extremely cold. Those guys were incredibly brave at such a young age. I am jealous that you have your dad‘s flight jacket. I remember dad‘s jacket hanging in the hall closet for years. But I don’t know what happened to it. I was named for the plane that he flew.
Thanks for your heartfelt rememberance of Sgt Ralph Watson. I was totally moved by the book "Ask Your Father" by Tony and Lorraine Wasowicz about Tony's dad Barney Wasowicz, his crew shot down from a B-26 on their 18th mission. Good read-so many true life heroes during WWII.
I'm writing his name on my flag...thank you for sharing.
Thank you. After all those years, dad still told me his story about Sergeant Watson. I felt like I couldn’t let his name disappear after dad died in 1993.
I just felt like I knew Sergeant Watson through my dad‘s story. And when I learned the details, I thought it was a shame that he might be forgotten. I just felt like I wanted him to live on in some small way.
ignorant person ever. Oh and there is no soul there. What can you expect from an over bloated completely incapable of any kindness to show any compassion. He is morally bankrupt.
Agree. He is a worthless piece of scum. I cannot believe he is still in office. A true and present danger. I hope the people who voted for him understand what they have done.
The one who is “Commander in Chief” does not deserve to be. There were many of us who were against the war, not against the ones who had to go, tho many who returned were treated with the same disdain that tRump treats POWs. He needs to relinquish his med records to prove he deserved the deferment, he still doesn’t deserve to be Commander-in-Chief.
Your story of Robbie reminded me of my own 'hero', Jim, who dropped out of college to join the Marines and go to Vietnam. He, too, felt a sense of duty---that it was the 'right' thing to do. He and I had gone to school together, but because I was two years behind him, I was virtually invisible. In our local newspaper, he had asked for 'letters from home'. I wrote. He answered. We continued writing for a year and a half. We were anxious to get to know each other in person (and yes, I was in love; I'd had a crush on him in school and through our letters, we both realized how much we had in common). Two days before he was due to come home, he was killed in a freak accident. So, yes, I think of him every Memorial Day because he was, hands down, the most patriotic man I ever knew.
There's a great book "Ask Your Father" by Tony and Lorraine Wasowicz you might like about Tony's dad Barney Wasowicz, another of the many heroes like Robbie during WWII.
My brother felt the same sense of duty. He could easily have avoided the draft by remaining in teaching (his first job out of college); instead he enlisted in the Army two years after graduation from Princeton in 1966, went to OCS, and was sent to VN as an infantry lieutenant. He was killed by a land mine outside Saigon barely a month after he arrived, July 21, 1969, age 24. His death meant that I was no longer subject to the draft. I have carried that burden ever since.
Thank you for adding that perspective. I sadly had not really thought about what that would be like. It is so loaded, the intensity of that really struck me. I am so sorry.
As I read these remembrances from those who loved those souls who enlisted, it was clear that the soldiers could not ignore that clarion call to service to both country and their fellow citizens.
Woody, my hope for you is that perhaps you could consider the burden you feel in another context: that his service to our nation was also the final and greatest gift he could give to you--that you could be free from the threat of, and not have to experience, the monstrosity of war.
It will always be Decoration Day to me. Every year, I spent Decoration Day at the cemetary, cleaning headstones and pulling weeds, planting fresh flowers and a bright new American flag. Decoration Day is also my birthday. So, I spent all of my birthdays as a child, honoring those who sacrificed for our freedoms. May 30th, traditional Decoration Day, should be sacred. We shouldn't be having mattress sales and 3 Day barbeques. We should spend that day, in remembrance and reflection.
Mel - My oldest would whole heartedly agree with you. While they were stationed in Norfolk they would take the younger cadets to Arlington National Cemetery and do the same thing. Now that they are in San Diego I’m curious to find out today when I get to talk to them what action they have now found to take. It’s about the people, the price paid, and not about sales and profits. Sometimes I wonder if the people who plan a trip, or stay home and maybe barbecue, understand why they even have a “three day weekend”?
Robbie was totally decent - Trump is totally indecent and despicable. There is a huge difference. I hold the Robbies in highest esteem - the Trumps make me sick at my stomach.
Claudia, that's putting it mildly. Trump's two wins for president are indicative of our poorly educated and morally bankrupt American society. We must work together to turn that around by working together on getting out the VOTE locally.
I'm just crying here. My "Robbie" was a guy named Joe. We connected because of horses. He was a whole generation older: (nothing to do with romance) a WW2 underwater demolitions special forces vet who was a cowboy before anything else. Only recently have I had to reflect again that, as it happens, his wife, just as deeply a friend, was Mexican, from way back in the day.... I think of him often, pondering why he honored me with his friendship. My husband and I spent many happy Saturday nights playing nickel-and-dime dealer's call poker with Joe and his wife. It was years before she pulled out a box to show us, with an array of combat medals I wish I had any concept of at the time. He used to tell it as a joke, that he'd been on the submarine net brigade under the Golden Gate Bridge, and they'd practiced and trained and took 'em in and out, but nobody ever told 'em what to do if they caught one! Thinking of you, Joe.
I agree with the commenter below, Johan. When my husband went to Vietnam in 1968, it was "the right thing to do." Our government told us Vietnam was legitimate, and because it was our government, ..... we believed. I was a military kid already, and he was a Marine. By the time he returned a year later, we had both changed. The men who served, are to be commended for serving, for doing the job, asked of them, and didn't deserve to be denigrated when they came home. Rallying against the lying government, is appropriate, but not against the individual men. Memorial Day -- "we owe the day to the soldier, not to the war that consumed him."
Robert has written about Robbie previously, and it was good to hear about this kind, thoughtful friend again.
Martha - “ The men who served, are to be commended for serving, for doing the job, asked of them, and didn't deserve to be denigrated when they came home. Rallying against the lying government, is appropriate, but not against the individual men.” -
Absolutely! We as people should not have treated them that way and neither should the government who ignored the “select” troops who fought even knowing that their own country wasn’t there for them if they even got the chance to make it home. The soldiers fought for our here and now when it wasn’t guaranteed to them. It always strikes me as odd that foreign countries these days treat our deceased troops better than we do when remembering the sacrifices made.
YES. Each foreign American grave is "adopted" by at least one person, to care for, remember, put flowers on them. The French APPRECIATED the Americans who came to save them.
Martha - Well, this American thanks all of those who do this in our place. You are correct that we need to continue to remember every day and not just on the declared federal holiday.
Fully agree. However, the Vietnam era was drastically different than today. There was no internet, cell phones, insta/tiktok/x. Today news and footage from around the world is on everyone's personal little pocket computers 24/7. I do not have the same feeling about some military engagement today.
We’re all suckers and losers to Trump, so wear it like a badge of honor. Besides that, everything Trump says is projection or confession. I missed the draft by 1 year and the war ended shortly after Nixon invaded Cambodia, then Kent state. I would have gladly served but my parents were so anti war. Sadly, there were people I knew who came home in body bags.
If we are truly blessed, we have a Robbie in our lives. Your tribute to him was filled with love and friendship.
What Trump said about John McCane told us everything we needed to know about Donald Trump. He did and said so many disqualifying things during his first campaign he should not have been elected.
I do not believe he will live out the term. He may prove me wrong. But it is obligation of the citizens of our country to minimize the damage he has already done and work hard to prevent harm he will surely try to do until his term ends. You give us marvelous instructions to accomplish those vital tasks.
I became a daily newspaper reader when I substituted for my brother on his paper route in Greenville, MS in 1972. I read of Thomas Eagleton's withdrawal from being George McGovern's running mate. I was reading the story in the Delta Democrat-Times, while folding them for delivery. I later took the route over. My sophomore English teacher, Mrs. Farmer, used The Commercial Appeal in a "Newspapers in Education" project. I read the Commercial Appeal daily for the next seven years. When I was a sophomore at Millsaps College, I took Political Science 101 and 102. Howard Bavender and John Quincy Adams included the Christian Science Monitor in American Government I and The New York Times in American Government II. Other professors I respected also included the Times in their daily reading (mailed subscriptions always arrived one day late). Those subscriptions cost $150 1978 dollars. When the Times became available on the Internet in 2000-01, I became a subscriber, "free" and paid. I realized last week that I have not read ONE thing from the Times in 2026. I canceled my subscription. I find that Heather Cox Richardson and Robert Reich give me the perspective I need, at a deep discount from $150 1978 dollars
Beautifully put. We should all have a long hard look at what we think we owe each other in exchange for a peaceful, harmonious and prosperous society in which everyone thrives.
Memorial Day is harder than it looks, because the honest version contains a contradiction and refuses to resolve it. Reich calls Vietnam a cruel absurdity sold on lies, and he is right. Robbie still went. The duty was real and the war was not, and both of those things stay true at the same time.
We owe the day to the soldier, not to the war that consumed him. The men who sent Robbie did not deserve him. That does not make his answer foolish. It makes it the only clean thing in the entire transaction, the one act in the whole sorry chain that was not a lie.
This is why the transactional worldview cannot hold Memorial Day at all. A ledger needs the loss to balance, and this loss does not. Robbie’s body was never recovered. There is no column where that is recouped.
He carried the crate up the stairs because the crate needed carrying, and later he answered a call for the same reason, and the call was unworthy of him in a way the crate never was. We remember him anyway. Not because the war earned it. Because he did, and the distinction between those two things is the whole of what the day is for.
Johan 🐌
It was good for my heart to read about someone like Robbie, but I'm so sorry about such an enormous loss.
There are many like Robbie around, and they will be the ones to eventually pull everyone together in the same spirit as he had. They will rebuild our society and help us recover from the massive trauma this regime has put us all through. Thank goodness for the Robbies in this world, men and women of good will and good heart
- Karen Cooper
Yes indeed there are many like Robbie around. They are the children and youth of today and lets hope the children and youth of today will have opportunities to witness greatness in America as well as world-wide. However, it is all up to us to find ways to allow the children and youth to at least have the experiences to witness greatness.
For children and youth it very well could be a chance to at least see greatness standing at a podium and delivering a talk. For me in 1956 at only 7 years old it was our grandmother who took us kids to see Dwight Eisenhower in downtown Seattle. Did we kids understand it all? No. However, grandmother knew something. She knew to get us kids out there and being a part of something. Did I become a lifelong member of the GOP? NO. I became an activist for social justice and environmental stewardship and environmental issues in 1969.
Were my interests in social justice and environmental issues born from my opportunity to see a President in 1956 at 7 years old? Maybe?
I have drifted a bit from talks of Robbie. However, I'm sure Robbie was able to witness greatness when he was a child too. . .
Thank you,
Dean Jackson
Dwight David Eisenhower, a military hero who knew war first hand, WWI and, of course, WWII, and who, in his 1961 Farewell Address that was 10 minutes long on national TV, per the National Archives (one of OUR valuable and beloved institutions that has been harmed by Thump in so many ways), spoke the words at his Farewell Address that include his famous caution about the "military-industrial complex" but also spoke eloquently otherwise to the nation. His words will follow Dan Goldman's below. I ask you to put Eisenhower's words of Presidential transition in contrast with Thump's seditious exhortations in order to overthrow our government, hold power, and proceed later to be re-elected for three reasons, per Congressman Dan Goldman:
"“Donald Trump ran for office for three reasons: 1) to stay out of jail, 2) to exact revenge on his enemies, and 3) to line his pockets. Everything else he says is bullshit.”
In contrast from a real President and a genuine "fellow American," Dwight D. Eisenhower from his 1961 Farewell Address to the nation:
"My fellow Americans:
Three days from now, after half a century in the service of our country, I shall lay down the responsibilities of office as, in traditional and solemn ceremony, the authority of the Presidency is vested in my successor.
This evening I come to you with a message of leave-taking and farewell, and to share a few final thoughts with you, my countrymen.
Like every other citizen, I wish the new President, and all who will labor with him, Godspeed. I pray that the coming years will be blessed with peace and prosperity for all.
If I could have voted during Eisenhower's election, I would have voted for him. I have always voted for who I thought was best for the office, regardless of party. I've been registered as Democrat, Republican, Independent, and now Other.
From your pixels to Fate's ears.
Please allow me to interject, as I cannot edit my comment below, that the typo correction, is: Almost 55 years later.....
No, I actually am not able to edit it. Commenters tell me how, but, it does not work for me.
Thank you, Skepticat. 😺
Beautiful tribute.
Yes. And.... "It is not for us to finish the task; neither may we desist from it." ~From Wisdom of the Ancestors/ Pirke Avot
Almost 45 years later I am still heartsick at the idea that young RR's young friend, a very special kind of caring young man, and so very many others, had to go there. How not to grieve, for Robbie, for the other Americans, for the countless Vietnamese, who all deserved to just live their normal lives❓ I demonstrated in NYC & DC, wrote letters, volunteered at printing T-shirts, adored (and still do) Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, et al, who really made our message passionately public, supported the gutsy politicians like Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman who were with us as we were with them, got into arguments with colleagues. And grieved, constantly. It is STILL up to We the sane People, to do anything and everything we can, to nonviolently stop the insane war machinery.
Yes "we can not desist," Joyce! reminded of John Kerry, later bizarrely "swift-boated": 'How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?'
Yet John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, lost to a other scion of wealth who weaseled out of military service because if his family 's influence. Americans chose to re-elect a mediocrity in G.W.Bush.
Thank you for the reminder - the "Shrub" was AWOL in more than one way!
And it was "W." Bush that really undercut John McCain using typical Republican (before it became all MAGA-Thump All the Time) "dirty tricks" as they were known (and widely known.) They put out stuff that would damage McCain with Republicans about his child, for example- and doing that revealed so many things about America itself, the racism, among other aspects, but it did damage McCain. And I have always thought that McCain chose Sarah Palin as his revenge against the Bush ploy and the Republicans. However, instead, it inflicted Sarah Palin on America and thus began the decline in what we once thought were standards for President-VP. That myth was exploded with her presence at the top ticket.
Karl Rove was a nasty piece of work.
McCain choosing Palin...🤦♀️
'How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?' The power of words!!
the swiftboating was almost magaesque in it's unamericanism-but Kerry only responded belatedly-these infernal ideas,once they've taken hold,are hard to dislodge-like brainworms
So hard to believe, in retrospect. (Always was!) From time to time, I joke, we'll see the rest of the Epstein horror when we see George Bush's military records. They actually demonized Kerry's service while burying Bush's AWOL! Not to mention, never deployed.Then they dressed him up and trotted him out like some real deal. I am the widow of a guy who was in country with the Marines in Korea, and we both were and now, me, outraged!
my sympathies for your loss,mmerose-unfortunately,the repubs are better at playing nasty
Kerry, got swift boated. One example of the depravity of political attack ads. How about what Trump said of John McCain - that one stupid ignorant comment should have disqualified him in everyone's mind. But like so much that he has gotten away with.
I agree,harvey-and McCain was friends with Lindsey Graham and was a moderating influence on him-since john's death,graham's gone bonkers
Harvey,what do you with an american populace who is incapable of thinking beyond an 8yr old. Tech has made sure people stay stupid,uniformed and only concerned about # 1.
Blame the voters, who in election after election continue to reward candidates who bleat cheap slogans about honoring thr troops , etc.
and those who can't be bothered to vote-kamala got millions fewer votes than biden
Gutsy electeds like my Rep Elizabeth Holtzman who sued Nixon (indirectly through his Sec'y of Defense Schlesinger) for the secret bombing of Cambodia.
This tribute, Professor Reich, is so touching and so pointed a criticism of the current resident of the White (and gold) House. Your friend’s belief in duty to one’s country is, itself, an important value to foster in all of us. The challenge, in my opinion, lies in determining what it is that duty to our country consists of. Robbie did what he believed to be correct, as did you during the Vietnam War period. Both if you demonstrated your understanding of what’s in the Constitution. Both of you were correct (again, in my opinion). Both of you deserve respect for your choices then. Robbie’s kindness and generosity are qualities I wish we all shared.
Oooopsie. Embarrassed arithmetic correction: Almost 55 years later....
Donald Hodgins
Donald’s Substack
just now
It's sad the truly good people never suffer from bone spurs..
Good people do suffer from bone spurs. They go anyway.
Joel--No, bone spurs do not go away, shrink, or dissolve on their own. Once your body deposits this extra bone tissue, it is a permanent structural change.
I think you misread my post. Please have a second look. I didn't say the bone spurs went away, I said the good people with bone spurs go anyway.
Joel--that makes more sense.. sorry--
Embarrassed typo (arithmetic) correction: Almost 55 years ago....
We remember Robbie because he was good. He reminds us that goodness stands on its own, can make a difference, and stirs us also to be good.
Susie, the truly depressing part is how war can turn a good person into a killer, one who can torture others, can commit crimes against humanity. We see that in every war/conflict, but often try to cover it up or excuse it as part of the pressure of war. It doesn't matter the reason; it happens and people are changed forever, and for what!!
Beautifully said, Johan.
"The men who sent Robbie did not deserve him." Hear, hear!!
It's good to realize that between Kent State and the withdrawal from Saigon, 5 years elapsed. Learned this from Andy Borowitz's presentation. It took that long for Americans to turn against the war.
MOST Americans. Some of smelled the bullshit long before that, the same smell that accompanied "Iraq has WMDs."
We certainly did. 😰
Meighan,thank you for the reminder.War is a huge moneymaker,always has been.HOw about our old friend Dick Cheney and Haliburton. If only americans would remember history?
I wanted Christian Bale (Gloria Steinem's stepson) to get the Oscar in 2019 for portraying Liz Cheney's creepy (to say the least) dad! But Rami Malek grabbed it away from him.
Meighan, actually, it took a lot less time than the 5 years mentioned here. Many Americans were opposed to the war by 1968, far more than were for it, but Nixon got elected claiming he would end the war; he lied. He expanded the war into attacking other nations like Cambodia and Laos, killing millions.
The lies being told by the Pentagon helped to keep an impossible, horribly destructive war going, just as so often happens. We gained nothing in that war, lost over 58,000 Americans to death and many many more to disability, and millions of Vietnamese, Cambodians, and Laotians. I weep for the horror of it. I knew it was wrong after a 9th grade civics assignment, having to keep a journal through Feb. 1968, daily describing what was going on in the war. I usually listened to the news of the war, but was forced to fully pay attention. It changed my life. It made me think more critically and to demand more of our government. both Bushes decided to ignore the lessons of Vietnam and jumped into wars that should never have happened, and many more were killed and in my opinion, for nothing!
You’ve written very thoughtfully here. Robbie was used for an evil purpose. He was lied to. Did he ever know it? When Robert Reich spoke about him at the end of the Coffee Klatch, he didn’t mention his objections to the war, and I think he should have. He made it sound as if Robbie died for freedom and democracy. It’s true that people honestly are going to have mixed feelings about Memorial Day. I marched against the Viet Nam War, too.
. . .and most of us olders here marched and showed-up as well. Thank you. Dean, Seattle.
Thank you both. What I am holding space for in both Reich’s remembrance and your reflection is the distinction between the systems that fail people and the human beings who still choose to act with dignity inside them.
Robbie’s kindness seems to have carried through every layer of his life. Not because the war justified it, but because service, compassion, and responsibility had already become part of who he was long before Vietnam. That feels important right now in a world increasingly shaped by transaction, performance, and self-interest.
Your final line especially stays with me: “We remember him anyway. Not because the war earned it. Because he did.” That carries the weight of Memorial Day more honestly than most public narratives ever do.
Johan, BEAUTIFULLY SAID! I remember hearing that troops coming back from Vietnam were treated badly, but I never saw that where I lived in my hometown or at college. The war, among my family and friends was seen as appalling and just plain wrong, but the people sent to fight were not for the most part. I remember hearing the body counts each Friday for that week and crying that so many lives on all sides were now dead or wounded. I wanted those fighting there to come home and for Vietnam to be rebuilt better with better leaders. That didn't happen for a very long time. For a high school speech class, I presented an oral interpretation of Phil Ochs poem "I Declare the War is Over." My classmates told me they had tears while listening to it. I sang the last 2 lines. My teacher was moved too. Maybe that was because I truly believed it. Memorial Day brings up those memories and again I have tears for all those we have lost and I wonder in some of the cases, could we have avoided the war altogether had those in charge considered other approaches.
Thanks Ruth. You bring back many memories.
Yes it is Memorial Day and I'm going to visit my parents and grandparents and all other family members who are buried there. Later I'm going to the military cemetary at the former Fort Lawton in Seattle to visit all the kids I grew up with who died in Vietnam.
Right now as I'm writing this I'm going to get real and just say to everyone the following: Everyone; please do your best to do your right thing and remember to vote at the November 2026 mid terms. This may not be the right day to be be saying this however there is an undercurrent of a blue tsunami coming (according to Reich) and the 2026 mid terms could make or break this blue tsunami Robert Reich has spoken about. Thank you. Dean.
I'm working hard to get out the VOTE locally and I urge you to do the same; otherwise we lose our democracy. Bottom line.
I have always felt uneasy about Memorial Day but have never been able to pinpoint why. You just put it into words for me. Thank you!
Bob, can you post a picture here of Robbie’s name on the Vietnam Memorial?
John Robert Peacock II. It isn’t a photo on the Vietnam Wall but…
https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/39894/JOHN-R-PEACOCK-II/page/4/
and
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/61030642/john_robert-peacock
and virtual wall
https://virtualwall.org/dp/PeacockJR01a.htm
Also
Memorial #134309142
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/134309142/john-robert-peacock
“His name is permanently inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
He is honored on the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial in Washington DC; name inscribed at VVM Wall Panel 01w, Line 81.”
It doesn’t surprise me that he was from Hawaii. When I visited there I found the people I encountered to be very friendly and kind. Aloha is a way of life.
https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt00000001UQdEAM#:~:text=Captain%20John%20Robert%20Peacock%20II,15%2C%201st%20Marine%20Air%20Wing.
Beautifully said, Johan, and so very true!
So beautifully said. Thank you.
Awesome response Johan. Thank you.
❤️❤️
If not for the Suckers and Losers, as Trump calls them, he wouldn’t have the freedom to become the president. Trump may be the most disrespectful person ever.
On Memorial Day, I always keep alive the memory of the tail gunner on my father's B-17, flying out of Grafton-Underwood England to bomb the Nazis in France. It was June 13, 1944... the first mission for my father, the bombardier at age 20, and for Sgt Ralph Watson, the tail gunner at age 19.
Flak was heavy, but they had to keep going to finish their mission and bomb the rail lines. During the fight, Sgt Watson was hit by flak in his right buttock. He bled profusely until the squadron returned to base. Dad recalled that Sgt Watson was white as a ghost by the time they removed him from the plane and took him to the base hospital. "I'll never forget that sight as long as I live," Dad said 45 years later. Sgt Watson died a few hours later. Dad survived that mission and others, but he lived the rest of his days with PTSD.
I made it my task to research as much as I could about Ralph Watson. He was newly married... only about six months. And his wife was pregnant. After he died, she tragically lost the baby. He's buried at an American cemetery in England, far from his family. During my research, I found his wife's name. She remarried, but her obituary never mentioned Ralph or that she'd been widowed. That broke my heart.
But I did locate his medical records and I found a niece and a nephew in New Jersey. Thanks to the internet, I was able to obtain their contact information. They told me that family lore said that Uncle Ralph's plane had been shot down. Not true, I said. I explained that he'd been fatally injured, and I provided the medical records for them.
So, Sgt Ralph Watson is who I remember on Memorial Day. A 19-year-old newlywed, hoping for his first child that never was to be, fatally injured on his first bombing mission. Buried far from home, with nobody to visit his grave site. Not acknowledged by his widow in her obituary. Known only vaguely by his niece and nephew.
But the flag that flies on my home has his name written on the white binding. His name and my father's name. Crew members united on my flag.
Donna - For doing what you did for his memory and caring to set the record straight for his family I humbly thank you. You’re one hell of a woman!
My father still won’t talk much about his time in war but if he did, and there was a person like Ralph Watson to seek for, I would gladly follow your example.
It was simply the right thing to do. I've made friends of the children and grandchildren from Dad's air base, thanks to an online memorial site. It's one big benefit of the internet!
Donna - Maybe there are others out there who knows something about all of other Robbie’s and Ralph’s and will hopefully follow your example. As you pointed out - we have the internet now. It’s never too late to change another person’s life.
Thank you so much for sharing this, Donna! What a beautiful tribute to Sgt. Ralph Watson by someone who cared enough about him to locate relatives and share the real story of how he died in the war. What an honorable way to remember him and your father on Memorial Day.
Wow. Respect : "closure" for fellow soldiers' family! I had the rare privilege of a tour thanks to family of one of the few restored B17s still flying. At my age (!) I learned what "the whole nine yards" means. But it is the people who matter. Your journey of caring about the person in the history is awesome!
My husband and I took my father to see a B17 at a local airfield 20 yrs ago. I wanted to see the plane he flew over Germany. He was the commander pilot of the crew at age 19!! Hard to believe! He was one of the younger pilots.
It was quite emotional for him and for us as we went inside the plane and he proceeded to tell us all about the crew and the areas of the plane that each was charged with during the mission!
He did tear up when he entered the cockpit where he was the pilot . What was amazing was how large the plane was, but very small cramped space for the crew!
My dad died in 2007, but kept up with his crew through letters and reunions !
Definitely the “Greatest Generation “
I have his Flight Jacket!❤️
Yes, those planes were so cramped inside because they were just loaded with munitions. They were not even insulated because they needed all necessary space to carry bombs and bullets. And without insulation, they were extremely cold. Those guys were incredibly brave at such a young age. I am jealous that you have your dad‘s flight jacket. I remember dad‘s jacket hanging in the hall closet for years. But I don’t know what happened to it. I was named for the plane that he flew.
😢🇺🇸
Thank you for this remembrance and all the work you did to resurrect Sgt. Watson’s memory.
Thanks for your heartfelt rememberance of Sgt Ralph Watson. I was totally moved by the book "Ask Your Father" by Tony and Lorraine Wasowicz about Tony's dad Barney Wasowicz, his crew shot down from a B-26 on their 18th mission. Good read-so many true life heroes during WWII.
I'm writing his name on my flag...thank you for sharing.
I must read that book. Thanks.
😔 🫡
Wow! Donna, you give Warrior a new meaning. Never give up and always remember. Thank you for sharing, you have a beautiful spirit.
Thank you. After all those years, dad still told me his story about Sergeant Watson. I felt like I couldn’t let his name disappear after dad died in 1993.
I don’t know you, but I know that I like you and I wish more people were like you in the world. What an honorable thing to do! Thank you!
Thank you for telling us this moving story, Donna. What moved you to do this? Gratitude?
I just felt like I knew Sergeant Watson through my dad‘s story. And when I learned the details, I thought it was a shame that he might be forgotten. I just felt like I wanted him to live on in some small way.
Beautiful words!
He certainly is the meanest, thoughtless, most
ignorant person ever. Oh and there is no soul there. What can you expect from an over bloated completely incapable of any kindness to show any compassion. He is morally bankrupt.
What do we expect from a true text book psychopath?
Disrespectful is putting trump's "character" mildly!
Agree. He is a worthless piece of scum. I cannot believe he is still in office. A true and present danger. I hope the people who voted for him understand what they have done.
The most pusillanimous president in American history!
But the toddler loves Putin and the Chinese takeout guy.
The one who is “Commander in Chief” does not deserve to be. There were many of us who were against the war, not against the ones who had to go, tho many who returned were treated with the same disdain that tRump treats POWs. He needs to relinquish his med records to prove he deserved the deferment, he still doesn’t deserve to be Commander-in-Chief.
Unfortunately, he has no idea what freedom means and sadly he should have been behind bars years ago.
Your story of Robbie reminded me of my own 'hero', Jim, who dropped out of college to join the Marines and go to Vietnam. He, too, felt a sense of duty---that it was the 'right' thing to do. He and I had gone to school together, but because I was two years behind him, I was virtually invisible. In our local newspaper, he had asked for 'letters from home'. I wrote. He answered. We continued writing for a year and a half. We were anxious to get to know each other in person (and yes, I was in love; I'd had a crush on him in school and through our letters, we both realized how much we had in common). Two days before he was due to come home, he was killed in a freak accident. So, yes, I think of him every Memorial Day because he was, hands down, the most patriotic man I ever knew.
There's a great book "Ask Your Father" by Tony and Lorraine Wasowicz you might like about Tony's dad Barney Wasowicz, another of the many heroes like Robbie during WWII.
Trump's comments on McCain, the Muslim guy who served with distinction, and the Greatest Generation were, and are a disgrace.
It's deeply shocking that they have been normalised by a MSM and a public that have completely lost their moral compass.
How far have we fallen?
Why does anyone who calls themselves an American patriot give this depraved, cowardly idiot the time of day?
We're in 'through the looking glass' territory.
John McCain giving Trump that thumbs down vote still resonates. A big FU to The Donald.
‘Off with his heads’ to paraphrase Lewis Carroll
My brother felt the same sense of duty. He could easily have avoided the draft by remaining in teaching (his first job out of college); instead he enlisted in the Army two years after graduation from Princeton in 1966, went to OCS, and was sent to VN as an infantry lieutenant. He was killed by a land mine outside Saigon barely a month after he arrived, July 21, 1969, age 24. His death meant that I was no longer subject to the draft. I have carried that burden ever since.
Thank you for adding that perspective. I sadly had not really thought about what that would be like. It is so loaded, the intensity of that really struck me. I am so sorry.
As I read these remembrances from those who loved those souls who enlisted, it was clear that the soldiers could not ignore that clarion call to service to both country and their fellow citizens.
Woody, my hope for you is that perhaps you could consider the burden you feel in another context: that his service to our nation was also the final and greatest gift he could give to you--that you could be free from the threat of, and not have to experience, the monstrosity of war.
Wishing you peace this Memorial Day.
It will always be Decoration Day to me. Every year, I spent Decoration Day at the cemetary, cleaning headstones and pulling weeds, planting fresh flowers and a bright new American flag. Decoration Day is also my birthday. So, I spent all of my birthdays as a child, honoring those who sacrificed for our freedoms. May 30th, traditional Decoration Day, should be sacred. We shouldn't be having mattress sales and 3 Day barbeques. We should spend that day, in remembrance and reflection.
Mel - My oldest would whole heartedly agree with you. While they were stationed in Norfolk they would take the younger cadets to Arlington National Cemetery and do the same thing. Now that they are in San Diego I’m curious to find out today when I get to talk to them what action they have now found to take. It’s about the people, the price paid, and not about sales and profits. Sometimes I wonder if the people who plan a trip, or stay home and maybe barbecue, understand why they even have a “three day weekend”?
I'm sure some younger folks don't understand completely. That's on us. We should teach them.
Amen!
Robbie was totally decent - Trump is totally indecent and despicable. There is a huge difference. I hold the Robbies in highest esteem - the Trumps make me sick at my stomach.
Thank you, Mr. Reich. Donald Trump is the LEAST patriotic president we have ever had in the United States.
Claudia, that's putting it mildly. Trump's two wins for president are indicative of our poorly educated and morally bankrupt American society. We must work together to turn that around by working together on getting out the VOTE locally.
Thank you for remembering Robbie today. His memory shouldn't be lost.
I'm just crying here. My "Robbie" was a guy named Joe. We connected because of horses. He was a whole generation older: (nothing to do with romance) a WW2 underwater demolitions special forces vet who was a cowboy before anything else. Only recently have I had to reflect again that, as it happens, his wife, just as deeply a friend, was Mexican, from way back in the day.... I think of him often, pondering why he honored me with his friendship. My husband and I spent many happy Saturday nights playing nickel-and-dime dealer's call poker with Joe and his wife. It was years before she pulled out a box to show us, with an array of combat medals I wish I had any concept of at the time. He used to tell it as a joke, that he'd been on the submarine net brigade under the Golden Gate Bridge, and they'd practiced and trained and took 'em in and out, but nobody ever told 'em what to do if they caught one! Thinking of you, Joe.
I agree with the commenter below, Johan. When my husband went to Vietnam in 1968, it was "the right thing to do." Our government told us Vietnam was legitimate, and because it was our government, ..... we believed. I was a military kid already, and he was a Marine. By the time he returned a year later, we had both changed. The men who served, are to be commended for serving, for doing the job, asked of them, and didn't deserve to be denigrated when they came home. Rallying against the lying government, is appropriate, but not against the individual men. Memorial Day -- "we owe the day to the soldier, not to the war that consumed him."
Robert has written about Robbie previously, and it was good to hear about this kind, thoughtful friend again.
Martha - “ The men who served, are to be commended for serving, for doing the job, asked of them, and didn't deserve to be denigrated when they came home. Rallying against the lying government, is appropriate, but not against the individual men.” -
Absolutely! We as people should not have treated them that way and neither should the government who ignored the “select” troops who fought even knowing that their own country wasn’t there for them if they even got the chance to make it home. The soldiers fought for our here and now when it wasn’t guaranteed to them. It always strikes me as odd that foreign countries these days treat our deceased troops better than we do when remembering the sacrifices made.
YES. Each foreign American grave is "adopted" by at least one person, to care for, remember, put flowers on them. The French APPRECIATED the Americans who came to save them.
I forgot to say: This is every day of the year, not just on America's Memorial Day.
Martha - Well, this American thanks all of those who do this in our place. You are correct that we need to continue to remember every day and not just on the declared federal holiday.
Fully agree. However, the Vietnam era was drastically different than today. There was no internet, cell phones, insta/tiktok/x. Today news and footage from around the world is on everyone's personal little pocket computers 24/7. I do not have the same feeling about some military engagement today.
We’re all suckers and losers to Trump, so wear it like a badge of honor. Besides that, everything Trump says is projection or confession. I missed the draft by 1 year and the war ended shortly after Nixon invaded Cambodia, then Kent state. I would have gladly served but my parents were so anti war. Sadly, there were people I knew who came home in body bags.
If we are truly blessed, we have a Robbie in our lives. Your tribute to him was filled with love and friendship.
What Trump said about John McCane told us everything we needed to know about Donald Trump. He did and said so many disqualifying things during his first campaign he should not have been elected.
I do not believe he will live out the term. He may prove me wrong. But it is obligation of the citizens of our country to minimize the damage he has already done and work hard to prevent harm he will surely try to do until his term ends. You give us marvelous instructions to accomplish those vital tasks.
Thank you for all your effort!
And NEVER allow any of the Trump cabinet people to be in our government again!!!...they are just as despicable!
Betsy,Donald Trump is a " Nazi" he has no soul,no empathy,no sympathy,no humanity.
I became a daily newspaper reader when I substituted for my brother on his paper route in Greenville, MS in 1972. I read of Thomas Eagleton's withdrawal from being George McGovern's running mate. I was reading the story in the Delta Democrat-Times, while folding them for delivery. I later took the route over. My sophomore English teacher, Mrs. Farmer, used The Commercial Appeal in a "Newspapers in Education" project. I read the Commercial Appeal daily for the next seven years. When I was a sophomore at Millsaps College, I took Political Science 101 and 102. Howard Bavender and John Quincy Adams included the Christian Science Monitor in American Government I and The New York Times in American Government II. Other professors I respected also included the Times in their daily reading (mailed subscriptions always arrived one day late). Those subscriptions cost $150 1978 dollars. When the Times became available on the Internet in 2000-01, I became a subscriber, "free" and paid. I realized last week that I have not read ONE thing from the Times in 2026. I canceled my subscription. I find that Heather Cox Richardson and Robert Reich give me the perspective I need, at a deep discount from $150 1978 dollars
Beautifully put. We should all have a long hard look at what we think we owe each other in exchange for a peaceful, harmonious and prosperous society in which everyone thrives.
To all the community-makers.