{"id":6406,"date":"2026-05-25T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-25T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/?p=6406"},"modified":"2026-05-12T04:25:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T11:25:10","slug":"no-bad-guys-on-memorial-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/no-bad-guys-on-memorial-day\/","title":{"rendered":"No Bad Guys on Memorial Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

(This conversation took place on an American Airlines flight on Memorial Day.)<\/em><\/p>\n

I get on the plane and find my aisle seat. A GI in digital desert combat fatigues sits at the window one empty seat away, reading. I see his shoulder patch.<\/p>\n

\u201c10th Mountain Division, huh?\u201d I ask.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh,\u201d he says, putting down his book. \u201cNah, I just wear their patch.\u201d<\/p>\n

I lift my eyebrows and laugh. \u201cReally. Well, nice to meet you. Hundred-and-first Airborne.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cScreaming Eagles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPuking buzzards.\u201d Both of us laugh. He extends his hand and we shake.<\/p>\n

\"Airplane\"\u201cVietnam?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAfghanistan?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Iraq. Eight friggin\u2019 tours.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWow. You don\u2019t sound too happy about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate war.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeen in that movie. You all-volunteer-Army guys are startin\u2019 to sound like us miserable draftees did back in the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMan, right now I\u2019m headed back to Afghanistan. Okay, in the last twelve months I got four Purple Hearts. Four!\u201d He holds up four fingers. His hand shakes a little, and in his eyes I see the telltale fixity of PTSD, the standard-issue combat veteran\u2019s thousand-yard stare.<\/p>\n

\u201cYikes,\u201d I say, surprised. \u201cVietnam — three Hearts and you were done. Army shipped you home. Three-time winners, we called \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, well, that\u2019s ancient history. Not no more,\u201d the soldier says, his eyes beginning to brim with tears. None fall. \u201cOh, man, it is so horrible. Well, you know what I\u2019m talkin\u2019 about. And I hear these clueless patriots defending this war, they don\u2019t know what the hell they\u2019re talking about. Bad guys!! I hate that phrase! There aren\u2019t any bad guys. There\u2019s just a bunch of people just like me on both sides, everybody trying to kill the guy that\u2019s trying to kill you. Those people we\u2019re fightin\u2019, they\u2019re just like us, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYup. Anybody\u2019s been in combat knows that. Viet Cong, they were some brave people, just trying to get us out of their country. Bad guys — sounds like something a four-year-old would say.\u201d<\/p>\n

He looks at me. \u201cUm, you don\u2019t sound like the typical GI, dude.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a conscientious objector,\u201d I tell him. \u201cI\u2019m a Baha\u2019i<\/a>, so I didn\u2019t carry a weapon.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cReally. What\u2019d you do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCombat medic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDang. Hard core. That\u2019s cool. I know some Baha\u2019is back home in Arkansas. Good folks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks. We try. Baha\u2019i writings say<\/p>\n

\u2018Let none contend with another, and let no soul slay another.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He looks out the window, thinking. A few moments of silence pass.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know,\u201d he tells me, \u201csome people in the airport back there bought me lunch, thanked me for what I\u2019m doing. If they only knew.\u201d He shakes his head and squeezes his eyes shut tightly.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnow what you mean,\u201d I say. His eyes open, meeting mine for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe it\u2019s better,\u201d he says quietly, \u201cif they don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou think?\u201d I ask. \u201cMaybe if people actually knew what war was like, they wouldn\u2019t be so ready to send guys like you and me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah. I couldn\u2019t believe these civilians who bought me lunch \u2013 one of \u2018em said \u2018We kicked the Taliban out of Afghanistan.\u2019 We. I mean, I was polite, but I felt like saying \u2018What do you mean \u2018We\u2019, Mr. Bermuda shorts? I didn\u2019t see you over there. And it ain\u2019t no video game either. You mess up you don\u2019t get no do-over. Dead is dead. These people with their yellow ribbon stickers on their bumpers, they don\u2019t have a clue.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MarineHis sudden agitation makes him pause.<\/p>\n

I ask \u201cThink you\u2019ll get over it, man?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cDid you?\u201d<\/p>\n

I shake my head no.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s harsh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere it is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then a voice on the PA interrupts all conversations and says, too loud and with feeling: \u201cOn behalf of our pilot and first officer and our entire flight crew, we just want to thank the brave men and women of our Armed Forces, who give so much to defend our American freedoms!!\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone on the plane claps loudly, except the GI and me. He silently shakes his head back and forth and rolls his eyes ruefully. His expression slowly turns to disgust as the applause on the airplane swells.<\/p>\n

A broadly smiling flight attendant comes down the aisle, reaches over and taps him on the shoulder. She says loudly \u201cThere is one seat left in first class, and it would be my honor and pleasure to give it to you!\u201d<\/p>\n

The GI shakes his head again, frowns deeply, gets up and collects his carry-on. He reaches out a hand to shake.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood luck, man,\u201d I say. \u201cKeep the greasy side down.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks. And the shiny side up,\u201d he says with a faint smile. \u201cYou know, I\u2019m\u2019a need some luck, buddy. So how can I find out more about this Baha\u2019i Faith?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(This conversation took place on an American Airlines flight on Memorial Day.) I get on the plane and find my aisle seat. A GI in digital desert combat fatigues sits…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":89302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2946],"tags":[2986],"series":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6406"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6406"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6406\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89304,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6406\/revisions\/89304"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6406"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bahaiteachings.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=6406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}