Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for October 26, 2009

Flashback or rerun?

Makes sense, Toggle.

No Dirty South rap? I’m disappointed.

Rerun. Here we go again.

I don’t want to see Toggle blow up again, please.

I’m kind of with y’all there, it’s almost like how I can’t watch the episode of M.A.S.H. where Col. Blake died.

Looks like a 2007 copyright date in the marginal strip between panels 1 and 2.

@Fairportfan2 I can sympathize with you. It was our niece and Afghanistan and she survived physically intact…. but the mental will take a very long time. Hope your son-in-law is doing well, our thoughts to him & his family. Ignore the desertdwellers of the world. They are in their own plastic bubbles, maybe they should be the ones out putting their lives on the line for their country!

Fairportfan2 - maybe desertdwlr isn’t commenting on today’s comic, maybe he’s making a request. XD

Garry must have gotten some flack from the administration about his little digs in the Nobel Peace Prize story line, so it’s time to remind everyone that war is Bush’s fault.

Cool - GT is running the backstory for Toggle !

… not a bad thing while on vacation since T. is likely to be his voice for vets for [sadly] quite a while as the broken and damaged soldiers come back to the imperial homeland after “going to the wars”…

Not cool…

Put me down as one who doesn’t want to see the re-run of Toggle getting blown up.

not looking at Toggle is not looking at the daily destruction of lives in wars so far from our hi-tech gizmos.

Anyone who objects to re-running this ought to go to the right side of the page and clock on The Sandbox. It’s GT’s milblog – all those who post are in-action military and support staff and their families.

This isn’t a comic strip – it’s their lives. Whether your politics are “support the soldiers” or “support the war” – you’re not honoring anyone if you won’t listen to the people who are living it daily.

Gotta comment on this one. I really don’t want to see this again, and yet because of the reasons behind it, I really don’t want to duck it. I teach college speech classes, and I had a Toggle in class last year. He struggled, he got frustrated, but he stuck with it, and he came through, unsurprisingly. For purposes of this discussion, it doesn’t matter which side of the “we should/shouldn’t be there” question you’re on. The very fact that I don’t want to be reminded of what happens to these young men and women is the very reason I need to be reminded. I want to honor every one of these people who serve, whether their leaders and decision makers were wise or not.

I disagree with much of GT’s politics, but I applaud his respect for the individuals who serve. May we all respect and support the Toggles in our lives, and may we all not turn away from those things that make us uncomfortable.

P.S. No implication intended that OTHERS who don’t read the series are ducking out on responsibility. I just feel like I would be. If you’ve had a family member go through this, you get reminded all too much as it is. For similar reasons, I’ll never be able to watch “Saving Private Ryan” again.

I too almost cried when seeing that white panel. Toggles story must be retold to remind chickenhawks of the true cost of their oil wars.

So how long has Sgt Ray’s tour been going on? Five years? Why can’t he remob back?

Thanks Garry. Even as a Canadian, I enjoy your strip. Perhaps it’s your last name.

Maybe this is a prelude to Toggle popping the question or something- see how far he’s come. It’s the one year anniversary of this sequence, if you notice the date.

I’m sure it’s a rerun. I guess Trudeau decided this cautionary tale’s lesson is worth repeating.

It would be a good idea for everyone here on the comment

page to see the movie “Pentagon Wars” staring Kelsey

Grammer. It is the story of the idiotic building of the

Bradley.

I cannot say if this is a prelude or a reminder, but it reminds me of an interview with a returning soldier I heard last week. He said the hardest part of his deployment was coming home. Everything he experienced first hand on a daily basis for a year, no one over here even thought about. For too many people, both wars are treated like unwanted re-runs and you simply change the channel. Prelude or rerun this deserves our attention.

I think this is a rerun picked to remind everyone how Toggle go into the strip, maybe he’s going to get more involved in the Vet centre now Melissa’s back overseas.

BTW todays the strips 39th birthday, birthday cake for everyone.

desertdwlr said, more dumba** liberal antiamerican crud —————————————– @Fairport Fan, First off I’m your son-in-law is safe, miracles like that don’t often happen. Hope that he and his comrades all make it home safe.

I’d be careful throwing rocks at desertdwlr. With a name like that I’d be surprised if he hadnt spent some time in the Iraq himself. Or herself, you never know. The first time around I saw this story arc I thought the same thing. It was hard to tell at first. I think we should give the desert dweller the benefit of the doubt here.

I recall when he would rerun an ode to the Kent state victims,every May.

I’ve been extended 2x . i hope I get rotated home soon.

I don’t believe comics should have re-runs. The old crew never did so these guys shouldn’t either….there should never be “re-runs” in the comics….you want a vacation???? draw a couple extras every day for a couple weeks

RIP Sparky

Found it. This was first run Nov. 26, 2007.

Book rec: The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman, under SF. Get the 2009 reissue, it’ll have material expunged earlier.

I’ll be looking for David Drake’s stuff, at least at the library; remember libraries? Amazon’s amazing, but not in reach right now.

I got a bit tweaky in Private Ryan, too, but stuck it out. That opening was just too real. Pass on Deer Hunter, Platoon, etc.

Just checked the first ten minutes of The Pentagon Wars at YouTube (gag reel of old tank film under credits was fun). Gonna look for that book, too.

(DaNang 2-5/66, DaNang/Chu Lai 7/69-7/70) 8/70, my little daughters would come in and slam the screen door [=122!], and I’m behind the couch. Better now. –Semper Fi, all.

I think we need to see it again – especially in light of the impending decision on the Afghanistan war.

This week is a rerun of the week of November 26, 2007