Machine Guns in Our Parks

Machines Guns in our Parks who would have thought it

     I was looking over a local park near where I live. I can see Lake Michigan, always an impressive sight. In and around the swing sets and ball diamonds were the children played were these two machine guns silently watching. Clearly, the rusty hunks of metal cemented to the ground were supposed to serve some purpose. I have seen these things before, and so have you. Cannons, tanks, unused artillery shells and cannon balls. I have seen many military-children parks in my travels throughout the Midwest, and took no notice of them until now.

     I asked myself why these relics of war belong in a children park. Since no one consulted me, I asked around the natives of this beautiful city. Most thought I was nuts for asking such a question. Only a liberal would ask. Others thought not to question, because the machine guns were always there, and thus should always will be there still. I didn’t understand either. Only one person had an answer that made sense, the military pieces may have been the work of some veteran’s group.

     My dad was a veteran, a WWII veteran. When he got out of the army, he endeavored to stay out of all things military. He wouldn’t join the VFW because the members would spend all their free time drinking to the glories of war. “There is no glory in war, but much to drink about instead.” My dad would say.

     Growing up, I believed that all veterans felt that way as well. It was easy for me to think that those who went through hell wouldn’t want their children to follow. I was wrong. For shame, for guilt, for some corrosive sense of patriotism, people will visit upon our children, the disease of war.

     I suppose you could wait for those antediluvian attitudes of our citizens to dry up and blow away. Excepting, the infection of violence is lethal, and the cures of peace and goodwill are not taught in our schools and places of worship. The sins of the parents are forever visited on their children.

     Can we stop the madness with our nation leaders? Seems unlikely, for many here are carriers.

     As you may have guess, I’m not from around here. When I moved here, I took a tour of the Rahr-West Gardens. During the tour, I was told that in constructing that garden, they used scrap plumbing from an unfinished submarine for irrigation. Certainly in the spirit of, ‘Beating swords into plowshares.’ So too, we should remove those machine guns and any other military type symbols and debris from our children’s parks. When can we bequeath to our children a future that includes peace?