Veteran’s Day
Cidu Bill on Nov 11th 2009
Last year when I posted the link to this Arlo and Janis story, somebody told me they should run it in the newspapers every year. Since that’s not likely to happen, I’ll do the next best thing by posting the link each year.
The comics show up in reverse order, so you’ll have to start reading at the bottom of the page and work your way up.
And on the same basic subject, it’s probably hard to really appreciate this one unless you were 18 years old during a very specific time:
Filed in Arlo and Janis, Bill Bickel, Jimmy Johnson, Veteran's Day, comic strips, comics | 23 responses so far
mzip Nov 11th 2009 at 07:50 am 1
Thank you for posting the link. I think I’ve read that story last year already, but thank you for posting it every year.
chuckers Nov 11th 2009 at 07:51 am 2
Subtle. Would very definitely have been a CIDU if you hadn’t mentioned the 18 year old thingy.
Molly J Nov 11th 2009 at 08:18 am 3
The linked series is very moving. Thanks for posting it; I think I must have missed it last year.
And yup, I’m an old enough fart to remember my older brothers and the lottery.
Nicole Nov 11th 2009 at 09:18 am 4
I didn’t read the series, I just read this comic and it nearly made me cry.
Years ago I was in Washington DC, and decided to visit the Vietnam War memorial. I was a teenager during that time, and thought I should at least see it once.
There was a lot of controversy surrounding the idea of just putting up a wall with the names of the dead carved into it. There were people who wanted the heroism of the statue of the men raising the flag over Iwo Jima. They felt that naming the dead somehow dishonored those the memory who fought in the war.
When I arrived at the memorial I stood for a moment and and just looked at all of the names. Then I slowly walked from one end of the memorial to the other, occasionally reading a name or touching one. When I got to the end, I wept. I didn’t know anyone who died over there, I wept for them all.
We were children during that war. We didn’t understand what we were doing when we would hurl insults at the soldiers as they came home from the war. After that day at the Viet Nam war memorial, I understood. Ever since then, regardless of my opinion of the war they are fighting in, I honor and respect the men and women fighting in it.
To those who thought that a wall with the names of the dead somehow was an insult to the Americans who fought and died in the Viet Nam war, you were wrong, so very very wrong.
To the verterans reading this, whether you fought in a war or not, drafted or volunteered, there are no words that I can say other than thank you. Thank you to those veterans not reading this, and most of all thank you to those veterans who will never read anything ever again.
Peace
Nicole Nov 11th 2009 at 10:22 am 5
http://c0389161.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/dyn/str_strip/300725.full.gif
Daniel J. Drazen Nov 11th 2009 at 11:04 am 6
I got it, all right. My younger brother pulled #1 during his turn. He beat it by enlisting and serving in Germany for 3 years where, in his own words, the Army got him off of pot and onto white wine.
RIP, Timm.
Christian Nov 11th 2009 at 11:16 am 7
Not to make light or anything, but is the old guy holding “Death cat” in his lap in the last panel of that story arc?
Morris Keesan Nov 11th 2009 at 11:42 am 8
I was a skinny 18-year-old, and keeping my weight down enough to qualify as 4F if necessary, and keeping Canada in the back of my mind as a fallback position, when my lottery number came up somewhere in the high 200s. But when I read this A&J strip, I didn’t even think of the draft lottery until seeing Bill’s comment. I think the strip makes perfect sense with “winning the lottery” in a metaphorical sense. By being alive, being Americans (most of us) who have enough disposable time and income to have Internet connections and hang out at CIDU, we’ve all won a lottery, compared to millions of third-world people who have a good chance of not surviving the week.
Frank the curmudgeon Nov 11th 2009 at 12:29 pm 9
A day for all of us, veterans and lottery winners, to give thanks for another day to remember those who were not so fortunate.
Elyrest Nov 11th 2009 at 12:59 pm 10
Nicole - Thank you for your eloquent comments about the Vietnam Wall and Veterans. I was affected the same way when I visited the memorial. I remember coming across it and thinking this isn’t much and then going down into the area and walking from one end to the other. I was in tears way before the end. I still remember a note left there by a woman for her “brown-eyed boy” who she would never see again.
I too am old enough to remember the lottery vividly. I have many cousins who were all of an age to be drafted. My Mom sat and watched with all of their birthdates in front of her and cheered as they were all high enough that they were safe. Then she cried.
Chakolate Nov 11th 2009 at 04:37 pm 11
I was in the tv room of my college dorm when the lottery took place that would decide my brother’s fate. His number came up 328.
Lost in A**2 Nov 11th 2009 at 04:42 pm 12
Bill, if you change “DESC” to “ASC” in your link, the series will come up in the right order.
Dan V Nov 11th 2009 at 06:32 pm 13
I was 17 the year the draft was abolished, so I never had to sweat the lottery personally. Some of my classmates weren’t so lucky. I’m thankful for all those who served, especially for those who gave their lives that others might be free.
Singapore Bill Nov 11th 2009 at 08:30 pm 14
Wow! Bill, that series is incredibly powerful. Thanks for showing it to me. A nice change from rah-rah jingoism that sometimes appears at this time of year.
Larry Nov 11th 2009 at 08:41 pm 15
I got a 312 in the lottery in 1974. I was subsequently classified 1H. A lot of my HS buddies got lower numbers, and a 1A. Some got their asses shipped off to Nam before they knew what was happening.
There were a few that I never saw again…. I do miss them.
Thankful, I am.
Rebecca Nov 11th 2009 at 08:44 pm 16
Maybe I’m too young to appreciate it. The look on that German’s face is pretty funny.
Drdan Nov 11th 2009 at 09:22 pm 17
I was 14 when the draft ended, before that my earliest memory of my parents was them telling me how important education was so I could be an officer, I didn’t really get it until later when they used to show the drawing of the number, and my parents checked to se which of my cousins might go, when the draft ended I was still “forced” to pursue my education, but the possibility of my being an officer was never brought up again. I’m a minority and I remember my folks saying “______” like you die up on the front for nothing, kind of insensitive but looking back I understand
Mark in Boston Nov 11th 2009 at 10:38 pm 18
I wonder how many names are on the wall in Vietnam.
zbicyclist Nov 11th 2009 at 11:12 pm 19
1. Thanks for running the link.
2. The interesting thing is that 1969 lottery wasn’t a fair pull. It’s pretty well established that if you were born late in the year, you were much more likely to get a low (bad) number. Guys like me, born in February, were likely to get high (good) numbers. I got 290. It was hard to celebrate because in every group of guys, there was somebody with a low number.
This gets blamed on the fact that they didn’t mix up the numbers enough, and it was an innocent mistake. For arguably the most important lottery of the 20th century? I don’t know.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draft_lottery_%281969%29
actual numbers here:
http://www.sss.gov/LOTTER8.HTM
MrKenneth Nov 11th 2009 at 11:32 pm 20
High school friend’s name is on the third panel to the east of the apex.
that means it was early in the war. West Point grad, forever 22. God bless them all.
paperboy Nov 12th 2009 at 03:52 pm 21
The subtle reference reminds me of the Arlo strip on Nov.22, 1988, which had, if memory serves, 3 panels of Arlo sitting on the stoop just silently thinking, the last panel with him thinking “25 years…”.
Pete Nov 13th 2009 at 05:28 pm 22
You can sort the strips by date, then they will show with the earliest at the top0, and latest at the bottom.
Darren S. A. George Nov 13th 2009 at 07:33 pm 23
I might have been born then (and I’m Canadian), but I still understood the comic. Knowing that it’s Remembrance day makes it obvious.