1969 & Then Some: On Morality, Vietnam, Romance & 2 Wheels for Life

1969 was pivotal for baby boomers, young, innocent and facing a needless war. On a grand tour, youth united for peace, resisting war, living the parables of high time. Some will remember. Some can’t. All bore witness to a time like none before or ever since, when a few seasons defined the difference between right and wrong.

The profit motive gave way to greed. Truth twisted to propaganda. National interest got bent for defense contractors. Democracy buckled on a war of attrition, and a cloud of smoke got toxic: napalm. Other clouds formed phantoms of complacency, security and atrophy. Sustained on smoke and stoned to the gills, we resisted, as no generation has done.

Youth is time for development within. Boomers formed lasting values that linger in truth and giving, peace and sharing. 1969 was a benchmark for the future, on a worldview and lyrics echoing down the decades.