Abundance of shortcuts to cemetery

The headline quoting President Bush blared: "We May Lose SomeBoys," referring to possible war in the Persian Gulf area.

My friend commented that it was "terrible" that young men andwomen had to face death because of a "stupid political dispute."

I noted that just the night before our conversation, three youngmen had died in the killing fields of Washington, D.C., over thingsas trivial as an argument over a girl. I asserted, with prematurerashness perhaps, that any GI on duty in the sands of Saudi Arabia isin less danger of sudden death than a youngster at a ghetto honkytonkat 1 a.m. in any big city in America.

I've thought about that remark and forced …