Haunted Memories

When I was a little guy about 5 or 6 years old one of my first memories of TV news were the nightly body counts from the "Police Actions" going on at the time. I can't say if this really affected me but I can say I didn't want the same for my child. However I found him a few weeks ago standing in the door of the bedroom staring at the television, I asked "what are you watching Buddy?" He just looked bewildered and asked "Dad who are those Army Guys?" At that point I had to just go ahead and tell him that they were the most recent "Army Guys" to be killed in Iraq. When he asked why they got killed, I could offer no reason good enough for his 7 year old mind. I remember how I felt when I first discovered what the body counts were all about, back then we still had the DRAFT going on which worried me to death that my brother would maybe someday have to go and "Die For Our Country" the fact that he was only four years older than myself never entered into the thought process( imagine that). I guess we all have to learn about the negative side of life at some point I just wish it wasn't so young now.