Last week marked the end of the fourth year of the war in Iraq. Students at Binghamton University held an event on campus to protest our country’s involvement in that war. As a 1975 graduate of SUNY-Binghamton, this reminds me of another time when I was in college and protests were being held throughout the United States against the Vietnam War.

Throughout the history of the United States of America, the men and women who serve in our Armed Forces have protected and preserved the rights and privileges all citizens enjoy. Right now, they get to choose whether to serve; in the Vietnam era, they did not. Each of them has sacrificed at least a part of their lives so that we can continue to live in a free country. Some of them have risked their lives and some have not, but we owe them a debt of gratitude nevertheless.

During the protest last week, the students involved encountered a fellow student who could be identified by his clothing as a veteran of the war in Iraq. He was just walking by in the course of his regular daily activities and was not interested in the protest or its participants, and he was approached to join the group, since that would have given strength to their cause. He politely declined.

As Americans, we are allowed to speak our minds without fear of retaliation. The Binghamton University students that took part in the demonstration may have done so out of a genuine belief that continuing the war is not in the best interests of our country, but they definitely took the easy way out. Their attempt to find an effortless answer to a difficult problem will not result in any changes to the foreign policies of our country. With a little bit more effort, they could have come up with other activities that would have had more far-reaching results. I would list some of them here, but it’s not my job to help them in an effort with which I do not agree.

The only thing they accomplished was to show their lack of appreciation for a person who has sacrificed part of his life to ensure their freedoms. But I’m sure that thought never crossed their minds. It definitely should have. With only slightly more effort on their part, they could have shown this soldier some gratitude for his efforts to secure their freedoms.

Barbara Barcak