BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  MAY 5, 2025 

When I was a young journalist, I wrote newspaper columns. In one I lamented the fact that through most of my life the US had been involved in one military action after another, from Asia to the Caribbean. I wrote it during those days and weeks we were ingloriously taking our leave from South Vietnam, 50 years ago this month.

It was an era when many Americans, especially the younger generations, were tired of war and longed for lasting peace. Music of the time reflected that, especially the reincarnation of an ageless Civil War era African-American spiritual, Down by the Riverside. Among the lyrics: “I’m gonna lay down my sword and shield, down by the riverside. I ain’t gonna study war no more.” Pete Seger recorded a new version in 1963 and it became a Vietnam protest ballad.

So here we are again. More than a half-century later, while global war has been averted, military conflicts are widespread, from the South Pacific to the Persian Gulf, the Indian subcontinent, Eastern Europe, Africa, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean.

You would think that the young journalist today would side with President Trump’s car-lot dealmaking style to end the war in Ukraine at any cost as long as it benefited the dealership. No thanks.

The United States must stand behind Ukraine, aggressively. Continue reading →