2008 Woodie Awards
Manhattan College Remains Silent as American Death Toll Surpasses 2000
Kevin Agnese
Issue date: 11/9/05 Section: Perspectives
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Two thousand. Two thousand brave Americans. Two thousand heroic Americans, whose absence will leave an open space at the family dinner table and a hole in someone's heart. Another brave soldier is coming home in a box, and there is no end in sight. October 25 marked a devastating milestone in George Bush's war, as the American death toll in Iraq surpassed 2,000. The Department of Defense, as of November 2, has identified another 19 American service members who have been killed since the war began, bringing the total to 2,019. How many more Americans have to die before we pull out of a war that our troops were sent to fight under false pretenses, and that can't possibly be won? Insurgents will never stop fighting in their own country. Remember Vietnam?
As I heard the heartbreaking news of October 25, I wondered, where is the outrage? As public support for the war declines by the day, I can't seem to find anyone (besides a very small minority) on this campus willing to start a serious anti-war movement. Why? This is a college! Remember the mid to late 1960s and the early 1970s? The protests, the demonstrations, the sit-ins. Ring a bell? I see anti-war buttons and stickers on the office doors of our professors, but I hardly ever see a fellow student expressing his or her outrage at the war. I understand this trend is more of a national problem, as the Vietnam-era protesters are making more noise than seemingly every campus in America. Yes, it is true that many of the young anti-war activists during Vietnam did so out of fear that they might be drafted, especially after automatic student deferments were abolished, but that was clearly not always the case. Thousands of students marched against the war even though many knew they could find a way out of fighting. These students exist today, but the number has clearly deteriorated. As I discussed the lack of student involvement in anti-war activities today, a friend told me, "We'd rather be drinking beer." As I looked at him and thought about my generation, I realized he was right.
As I heard the heartbreaking news of October 25, I wondered, where is the outrage? As public support for the war declines by the day, I can't seem to find anyone (besides a very small minority) on this campus willing to start a serious anti-war movement. Why? This is a college! Remember the mid to late 1960s and the early 1970s? The protests, the demonstrations, the sit-ins. Ring a bell? I see anti-war buttons and stickers on the office doors of our professors, but I hardly ever see a fellow student expressing his or her outrage at the war. I understand this trend is more of a national problem, as the Vietnam-era protesters are making more noise than seemingly every campus in America. Yes, it is true that many of the young anti-war activists during Vietnam did so out of fear that they might be drafted, especially after automatic student deferments were abolished, but that was clearly not always the case. Thousands of students marched against the war even though many knew they could find a way out of fighting. These students exist today, but the number has clearly deteriorated. As I discussed the lack of student involvement in anti-war activities today, a friend told me, "We'd rather be drinking beer." As I looked at him and thought about my generation, I realized he was right.