What motivated a US soldier to kill Afghan civilians over the weekend?
The victims were mostly women and children, who slept.
As a teen I would ask my dad about the Viet Nam war as black and white footage played across the evening news.
“It’s complicated,” he’d say, and give succinct summaries of the day’s events.
As we listened to the radio report of the Afghan civilians who lost their lives at the hands of an American soldier, my teen-age son asked, “Why would anyone do that?!”
As I fought back my tears, my only reply… was silence.
(S-R archives photo:An aerial view of Kabul city is seen from atop a hill as a street dog walks in Kabul, Afghanistan)
Spokesman-Review features writer Rebecca Nappi, along with Catherine Johnston, an Olympia, Wash., writer who works in hospital administration, write about issues of grief when facing serious illness, dying, death and other forms of loss.
Ask a question: Rebecca and Catherine answer grief questions in their syndicated EndNotes column for McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. Email them at endnotescolumn@gmail.com.
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