Preparing My 3 Year Old Grandson For War

My family thinks he is too young for he is too little for his local pre-school, stands only as tall as my belt buckle and just wants to swing on his play set, but I know better.

His cousin is turning 11 and he was just a baby when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and he was 21/2 when the U.S. invaded Iraq for the 2nd time, wars that continue today, so I knew it was time to prepare my 3 year old grandson for war. After all, the Pentagon is already preparing to fight future wars, including cyber wars, as it sees potential U.S. enemies everywhere.

To capture the spirit of being a soldier, I took him to our local giant discounter and bought him little Army fatigues, including a shirt that reads, "Support our Troops" and got him small Army boots, just his size. Of course all these things were made in China, as was the American flag I bought. Yet how could I train him properly without toy guns, tanks and grenades, so I bought him the best of those toys the Chinese manufacture.

But while all those jobs and millions more had gone to China, I know many American jobs come from these wars and the preparation for new ones. In my 3 year old grandson's neighborhood, there are several dads and moms working for giant defense contractors. In my neighborhood are retired men who worked for defense contractors their entire careers. All of these people produce or produced products America never used, but in the name of defense, are worth all the taxpayer money that paid for and continue to pay for them.

As I took my tiny grandson to a local park to teach him combat, he asked, "Grandpa, how will I know when we have won?" "I don't know," I replied. "I'm 66 years old and in my memory, the U.S. didn't win in Korea, lost in Vietnam and has been driven to a standstill in Iraq where it has fought twice and to a standstill in Afghanistan.

"In the 45 year Cold War, we nearly went to nuclear war several times. And even our 40 year War on Drugs has been a disaster. But what I do know," I assured him, "Is that when it comes to war, we are the best in the world because we are always fighting. And rest assured, we will blow-up anyone who gets in our way. That's what keeps us so safe."

He got scared and began crying. To calm him, I smiled and said, "If all these wars were wrong, with the support of their religious leaders, Americans would unite to stop them, instead of celebrating them in presidential speeches and in movies, television shows and games. For we are people of compassion and conscience, who care for all of humanity."

Dick