On Memorial Day I don't want to only remember the combatants. There were also those who came out of the trenches as writers and poets who started preaching peace men and women who have made this world a kinder place to live.

While Taliban fighters had an initial claim to protection under the conventions they lost POW status by failing to obey the standards of conduct for legal combatants: wearing uniforms a responsible command structure and obeying the laws of war.

Grief is a bad moon a sleeper wave. It's like having an inner combatant a saboteur who at the slightest change in the sunlight or at the first notes of a jingle for a dog food commercial will flick the memory switch bringing tears to your eyes.