A LETTER

Before You Send My Son

War and Accountability · Rollin E. Trueblood, USMC (Ret.)

I remember back when I was 15 or 16 years old. I joined the Marine Corps the day I turned 17. Before that, I had several conflicts with friends of mine who were preparing to go to Canada to avoid the draft. I thought it was improper, disrespectful, and unpatriotic. I argued that our patriotic responsibility was to follow orders, and I was going to join the Marine Corps. I was not going to wait for the draft. I had no tolerance for anyone who would desert this country at a time of war.

I'm here to say, now that I'm 69 years old, more than fifty years later, that I was wrong...

Over the past fifty years, I have spent countless hours studying the Vietnam War, the Iraq War, the conflict with Iran, and other wars throughout history. I have watched presidents stand before Congress, military leaders present their case, and politicians ask a nation to send their sons and daughters into harm's way. My opinion has changed—not because I love my country any less, but because I have come to better understand the tremendous responsibility that comes with asking another American family to sacrifice someone they love.

— Rollin E. Trueblood, USMC (Ret.)