I looked at the calendar and was reminded that Sept. 2 was VJ Day — victory in Japan. The war with Japan was over. The boys and girls were coming home. Gasoline was off rationing. Booze flowed freely. Everyone was so happy. It was over. People could live in peace.

But that was just the beginning. The saber rattling by the USSR, with its nuclear capabilities, soon had school kids preparing to “duck and cover” until it was revised by older kids to “duck and kiss your butt goodbye.” Hence, the peace movement.

I look at the politicians today and cringe. “We’ll outsmart them, out-bomb them, etc.” Who do they think they are kidding?

If the U.S. did it with nuclear bombs, we might hit them first, but we would “reap what we sow.” As the death thrown up in the air silently drifted down, we, alongside our friends and enemies, would sicken and die.

We all live on this one “little blue marble.” It is an infinite wonder of many fragile, finite things. Nuclear bombs and war are one thing we do not want to have.

I hope that the politicians would be careful of the furies they unleash. They will not escape them, either.

Violet Gerber, Sabattus