Attribution: Frederic Villiers (1851–1922), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, joins the keeper in noting the long history of the young of one tribe being set off to do battle with the young of the tribe on the other side of the hill at the behest of chiefs who wanted all of the hill.
The motivation for these manipulated young innocents must include gestures of appreciation from the tribe, especially from the chiefs with their weapon factories and profit motives.
Once in Korea while transporting a very young captured “enemy” soldier back to regimental headquarters for questioning, the keeper and the captive boy locked eyes and the Korean war suddenly lost its necessary enmity and became two “boys” exchanging a questioning look that may or may not have included wondering if they really wanted to kill each other as their official training dictated.
The keeper remembers that long ago look and he recalls touching the frightened young enemy on the arm as reassurance that he was not going to be killed. Not at the moment at least.
