Armistice Day

I’ve been reading about World War II for this part I’m auditioning. The name of the play is “Everyone’s Doing Their Part.”

Never mind the bad grammar of the title. What I was drawn to was how everyone was mobilized in the war effort. There was gas rationing, meat rationing, rubber and steel rationing. There were bond drives and blood drives. There was a draft; if you were a man of military age and you weren’t in uniform, then you could forget about getting a date unless you were taken out of the conflict by being wounded in action.

Military age was anyone between 18 and 45. And it didn’t matter if you were soft and flabby, the armed forces had a place for you.

I look at this war that we’re in now. Where is the sacrifice? In WWII, everyone’s son signed up. The president’s and the opposition leader’s sons went to serve. Princess Elizabeth and Princess Margaret were selling war bonds.

There is no call to action here. What would happen if there were? I mean: rationing, a call to serve, and the whole bit. Would Bush have lost? Is that why he didn’t ask America to invest in this nonsensical war?