Take the time, please, and read the enclosed lyrics of the Animals’ 1960s hit song ‘Sky Pilot’. It tells more than this writer could ever hope to express. It was written during the height of the Vietnam War, which wasn’t our war at all. It was a civil war between the Vietnamese people, which became one of our (so called) phony American wars. You should know some of the others: Korea, Iraq 1, Afghanistan, Iraq 2 to name a few of the ‘adventures’ our imperialist government has undertaken. As the song relates, it is always the safe and secure smiling warlords from Washington and the Pentagon that ‘bless’ the boys before they go to destroy and be destroyed.
He blesses the boys as they stand in line
The smell of gun grease and the bayonets they shine
He’s there to help them all that he can
To make them feel wanted he’s a good holy man.
Sky pilot… Sky pilot
How high can you fly?
You’ll never, never, never reach the sky.
He smiles at the young soldiers tells them it’s all right
He knows of their fear in the forthcoming fight
Soon there’ll be blood and many will die
Mothers and fathers back home they will cry.
Sky pilot… Sky pilot
How high can you fly?
You’ll never, never, never reach the sky.
He mumbles a prayer and it ends with a smile
The order is given
They move down the line
But he’s still behind and he’ll meditate
But it won’t stop the bleeding or ease the hate
As the young men move out into the battle zone
He feels good, with God you’re never alone
He feels tired and he lays on his bed
Hopes the men will find courage in the words that he said.
Sky pilot… Sky Pilot
How high can you fly?
You’ll never, never, never reach the sky.
You’re soldiers of God you must understand
The fate of your country is in your young hands
May God give you strength
Do your job real well
If it all was worth it
Only time it will tell.
In the morning they return
With tears in their eyes
The stench of death drifts up to the skies
A soldier so I’ll looks at the sky pilot
Remembers the words
“Thou shalt not kill”
Sky pilot… Sky pilot
How high can you fly?
You’ll never reach the sky.
With Memorial Day around the corner, once again the War Lords who run our empire will propagandize to their hearts content. For who can ignore celebrating our brave, as they love to call them, warriors? As easy as selling soap, this empire, through it minions in media, have continually created A) The need for war and B) convincing all the suckers that WE, America, are in the right. Look how they have done this, here at home, in regards to Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians. Regardless of Hamas’s terrible action of shooting rockets into Israel and killing some innocent civilians, who provoked this? Who then destroyed countless Gaza Strip buildings and hundreds of lives, many of them little children? The not so funny oxymoron is to call the attackers the Israeli Defense Forces. Any such violent assaults are part of the outcome of Israel’s illegal and immoral control and occupation of Gaza… going on 54 years. You see, our nation has its own skeletons in the closet. As the Israeli government forcibly evicts Palestinian families who have lived in East Jerusalem for generations, the U.S. Calvary did the same towards Native Americans. The Nazis under Hitler called this Lebensraum or ‘Living Space’, forcing out one group of people to make room for German settlers.
All U.S. military actions AKA WARs since WW2 have been Undeclared & Illegal. What those who celebrate Memorial Day in remembrance of our soldiers should also learn about is ‘Who profited financially from these actions’? Major General Smedley Butler summed it up real well in his 1935 Essay ‘War is a Racket’. Every veteran and family of veterans should read it! This was a primer for the weasels in our Military Industrial Empire to follow script on the road to vast riches. Remember that it has always been the bankers who loaned the money for nations to fight such phony wars… many times loaning to BOTH sides. It has always been the munitions manufacturers and other war industries who Own the politicians to create such overseas engagements. Many of the generals and National Security Agency officials, along with many compatriots from U.S. foreign intelligence agencies, upon retiring, go and work for the private sector of this Military Industrial Empire. Or, they go and become whores for the countless right wing Think Tanks that are funded by billionaires with large checkbooks.
They will play the anthem at all the ballparks and arenas Memorial Day (They do it every game anyway). They will march out the honor guard, many times dressed in camouflage, which in itself is too over the top. They will ask everyone present for a moment of silence to ‘Honor our dead.’ If they want to really honor our dead soldiers and countless foreign civilians, they should arrest and indict men like Bush Jr., Richard Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Tony Blair, Barack Obama, Donald Trump and now Joe Biden for War Crimes! Now, THAT would deserve a real holiday!!
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