Earlier this week there was a minor stir in the blogosphere after Staff Sergent Matt St. Pierre told CNN International that Iraq is “our generation’s Vietnam.” St. Pierre was ostensibly referring to the military-strategic situation on the ground in Iraq. Much like in Vietnam, the United States is stuck in the middle of a civil war in Iraq, hated by both sides, right where it doesn’t belong. In this way, Sgt. St. Pierre has it exactly right. But I realized that despite the fact that Vietnam was – and Iraq is – a disastrous and unnecessary war, among America’s greatest mistakes of the last fifty years, there is one important difference: Our parents’ generation actually cared about what was happening in southeast Asia.

For those who came of age during the Vietnam era, the war was a defining fact of life. It was closely followed in the media and constantly on people’s minds. There was a general awareness of the conflict, despite the fact that it took place on the other side of the globe. This awareness opened the door for the massive student anti-war movement of the 1960s. The youth of the decade responded to the immoral war in a variety of ways. Some became Maoists, others became drop-out flower children and still others went to work for Eugene McCarthy’s presidential campaign.But you don’t need the history lesson; you’ve seen Forrest Gump.

When I mentioned the topic of this column to a friend of mine – a friend who is working on Capitol Hill this summer, no less – she scoffed: “Well, what should we do? Protest in Tappan Square all the time?”

Well, why not?  According to the Daily Vidette, the Illinois State University newspaper, students there gathered to protest the war in Iraq last Monday. It’s not much, I admit, but it shows that students can take action. Just like our parents when they were our age, we could make ourselves heard in myriad ways regarding the war in Iraq. We could protest in the streets. We could form a militant organization like the Weather Underground. Or we could “Get Clean for (Howard) Dean” the way our parents got “Clean for Gene” McCarthy.   

I’m not necessarily advocating any of these actions. Nor am I ignoring the admirable work of the activists out there who are taking action against the war. Nor am I saying that I regularly write to my congressmen or organize protests in Tappan. I am as guilty of apathy as most Oberlin students.

When I think about what’s different between today’s students and those of the 60s, the answer is pretty simple: There is no possibility of an Oberlin student being drafted and sent to fight in Iraq. The burden of this war falls on a very small portion of American families, unlike during Vietnam when everyone, rich and poor alike, was called into service. The draft was undoubtedly a factor in mobilizing the youth of the 1960s.

I am not naïve enough to think that the same kind of youth movement could spring up around the Iraq war. But I do think without a doubt that there are clear and important parallels between these two conflicts. Just as Vietnam was the defining moral issue of our parents’ generation, so is Iraq the great moral challenge of our own. And I do not want to say that I didn’t at least say something. Anyone up for a protest in Tappan Square next week?