JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN by Dalton Trumbo

Why didn't I come upon this novel during the Vietnam years? Not only one of the best anti-war novels, but so imaginative, so sad, so perfectly written from the perspective that War is Hell. What other perspective is there when it comes to war? Published in 1939, written by Dalton Trumbo, it is about a soldier who has lost everything in The War To End All Wards; everything that is but his mind. Reminds me of the Clancy brother's song Johnny I Hardly Knew You. (Thank you Jeanne Lafferty.)

I stumbled upon this novel in a seventh period World History class taught by Mr. Jarze. On Veteran's Day all the history teachers were obliged to do something to explain the meaning of this holiday. Mr. Jarze chose a reading from this novel, and an accompanying video featuring Metallica using this novel as inspiration for their song.

When it comes to war there are two works we all should read before supporting it, becoming part of it, and before deciding to "just let it happen, since what can we do?"
The first is this novel, Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo.
The other is Howard Zinn's Peoples' History of The United States," or if you're not a reader Google his wonderful speech entitled Holy Wars.
That's all ye know on earth about war, and all ye need to know.
Pardon the paraphrase, Mr. Keats.

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Florida

Make no mistake: there is a Florida attached to the upper 47. It is a peninsula forever threatened by water; water everywhere. One of my friends said that the entire state is a landfill. Harsh. Sometimes seemingly true. There is an east coast. (Think monster hurricanes on doplar radar.) There is a west coast. (Think monster hurricanes stewing in the Gulf.) And there's a land in between already filled with interstates and travelers heading north and south, but not by train. Nothing moves by rail anymore. Wal-Mart trucks, Inc. carry all: from cattle, chattel, to junk from China and environs. Back to Florida. There are six churches to every person. Most of them in Pasco County. Is it truly a religious haven? Do I dare think that tax exemption is at the heart of this spirtual phenomenon? Someone advised me to get my Doctorate of Divinity on line, then I can touch people. Then I can rent space in a strip mall and call it a church. Then I can take offerings and pay zero taxes. You can't deny there is some spirit to that! The churches. Mostly fundamentalist. Some traditional. Some in a room of their own. I don't mind being amongst all these churches. Don't get me wrong. I just miss the cathedrals. The grandeur. But, I understand, it's difficult to build a cathedral on a slab.
Consider Florida before air conditoning. Don't consider mosquito coasts and malaria. They've moved south to the lower Americas.
Florida: once Red, now temporarily Blue; just itching to turn Red and rebel once again.
It is where I live. I find the book stores, the theaters, the people I enjoy. It is a diverse state. Though there aren't a lot of Main Streets. Travel Highway 19 on the west coast and town melds into town. You have to watch for the "Entering Holiday" sign stuck in front of a strip mall. But New Port Richey does have a Main Street. There's a central park of sorts. And an abandoned old home where Gloria Swanson used to live during the heyday. And on Moon Lake Road there's a windowless, stone building said to be Al Capone's hideout. No historical marker there. Just legend, imagination, sanctuary when bullets flew over Broadway. Sanctuary. Almost sounds hallowed.