In My Mother's House There hangs a photo of the two of us taken days after my return from the 1991 gulf war. In the photo, we're both smiling and my mother is crying as I remove a yellow ribbon from a tree in her front yard. The ribbon meant everything to her―my safety and my life, my past and my future, a notice to the world that she had a son at war―and nothing to me. Ribbons, flags and parades help convince families and the citizenry that our cause is just and that the price paid by the few―death, heinous injury, a long-term psychological disorder―is worth the gain for us all. The soldier appreciates these gestures but knows that flags and ribbons will not save his life.
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