A generation's choice

I am still in awe when my mother recalls the day she heard the news of President Kennedy's assassination in 1961. As the announcement came over the classroom intercom, she and the others were transfixed and confused. She told me it was a moment in American history that signaled the end of an era. For most Americans, the Kennedy assassination not only spoke of an end of Camelot, but it broke something more profound -- America's innocence.\nOn Sept. 11, my boyfriend called from Denmark and told me to turn on the TV. As I watched events unfold from Paris, I was mortified at the surreal images of the country I had left behind. Three days earlier, I had been in New York. Now it was burning. \nLike my parents, my generation yearns for justice. Bursting with anger and confusion, we were looking for swift action -- Afghanistan made sense to us. Similar to what happened after the Kennedy assassination, the American public and the rest of the world mourned. Afterwards, they focused on war. During Vietnam, my parents' generation wondered why it was fighting, and eventually retaliated.\nAt the 1968 Democratic National Convention, riots broke out in Chicago. Young Americans were incensed. French President Charles de Gaulle resigned in 1968 after riots in Paris. Lyndon B. Johnson decided he wasn't going to run again for president. Governments fell. In a coup de grace, governments lay in shambles. They asked what had happened. How did de Gaulle convince President Dwight Eisenhower to join forces for Vietnam? But that time period is over. They didn't know what they were fighting for then: to stop communism, or to save the gallant French?\nFor the baby boomers, the Kennedy assassination was significant because it forced the public to look inward. Probing questions arose, and the American public had to ask itself how something so horrible could happen within the boundaries of the United States, among America's own. It is equivalent to what is happening with my generation. \nSept. 11 was a tragedy that will impact lives in ways few have come to realize. Twenty years of a distant Cold War threat and economic prosperity have made us unaccustomed to the nuances of national despair. In general, Americans have had relatively little experience with tragedies compared to, say, Europe, having endured two world wars and the many upheavals in Russia for example. Sept. 11 went beyond what was imaginable all over the world. Moreover, we were grossly unprepared.\nEven if my generation has lived in prosperous times, we are not as complacent as perhaps some of those who lived through the '60s may think, many of whom are presently heads of state. Now, as George W. Bush gears up for war in Iraq, we must reassess our role in international affairs and take into account our own vulnerability. \nCasualties in an Iraq war most likely will be high, as will the risks. Hussein's deadly chemical and biological weapons pose a serious threat. And there will be more anti-Americanism, anger, demonstrations and bad publicity if an Iraq war goes badly. We should look at what our parents learned in Vietnam. The consequences of a war with Iraq are great and far reaching and many of my generation are opposed.\nYoung Americans have lived with more freedoms and prosperity than their parents. Perhaps what we need now is focus -- and action. Focus is required for the building of foundations for a more peaceful and free world. My generation needs a higher calling, in a sense a common purpose. Our visions and aspirations should not be left out of the debate process, for what happens next is our problem.\nI've enjoyed those very freedoms my parents fought for in the '60s. I don't want to see them taken for granted. Worries over national security cannot curtail the debate among my peers, but lack of historical knowledge and outlets for our concerns might. We must be bold and interested in what is happening around us. While my generation is still sorting out what happened, the most important message is what will come. Decisions for America cannot be made without hearing the voice of my generation.