It bothers me to see the "Peace Sign" displayed in so many ways everywhere you look. It is on t-shirts, pants pockets, on posters, in advertising, just all over the place. I see it displayed by kids who have no idea the pain and division that symbol generated in this country...it is just a fashionable "retro" look to them. I want to grab them and tell them how offensive it is to me and a heck of a lot like me, but I am just a fat old man that is past the point of being considered relevent in any way. "Lighten up, old man, it's just a ...what?...a symbol..."
The first time I was aware of it, it was the symbol for the "No Nukes" demonstrators in England as they paraded in front of the US Air Bases. I am not sure how it made the leap to the anti-war movement...but some time in the sixties: there it was. Now it is the icon of the sixties and I suppose it is supposed to represent the "freedom" of the time...the "new morality"..."free love"..."sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll"..."make love, not war"..."up the revolution"...but some of us remember other things the symbol stood for: burning flags, draft cards, and bras...runaways on drugs selling flowers on street corners to earn the next hit...dirty feet, hair, clothes and pits and all the assembled aromas that accompany them ...the "F-bomb" prominently dropped in places it had NEVER been dropped before...general rude behavior from young people in the guise of projecting their disdain for anything conventional or authoritative... the riots, the "civil disobedience", and the unbelievably bad treatment they threw at the servicemen.
I have heard it referred to as the "Footprint of the American Chicken". It is hard to argue against that, especially given the way the "peace movement" came to a standstill when the draft ended...even though there were still lots of wars in the world. Others have said it has satanic connotations...it doesn't, except for what wannabes have ascribed to it. The fellow who apparently designed it, in England around 1958 or so, combined the semaphore positions for the letter "N" and the letter "D" ( Nuclear Disarmament). That is his story and he is sticking to it.
In any case, in this politically correct world we live in, it is a no-no to offend the folks who killed 3000 Americans on 9/11, but no one gives a hoot about offending millions of Americans who put their lives on the line to protect the rights of those who spit on them, called them names, and did their best to ruin the country.
Am I alone here? Am I being too sensitive? Is this just fashion...or do symbols really mean things? Maybe I am...but one of the things that Vietnam vets learned was to "suck it up" ...don't draw fire...keep your peace because nobody cares what you think. We shook our heads and chanted "Don't mean nothin', man...ain't nuthin' but a thing..." Well...this is a thing I can't sit on any longer. I know there are a bunch of you out there...what do you think? Isn't it time we spoke up? Or don't you care?