Paul W Pearce

     

_click for details

As if in a dream or the Twilight Zone, I found myself wandering through a former military research center. This camp is haunted by a history of the Ku Klux Klan, the first transatlantic radio transmission and secret military research projects in communications and weapons technology. It is other-worldly. Even stripped of all the means of production and its walls, I envisioned a bustling beehive of activity swarming with scientists, technicians, paper-pushers, military personnel and politicians.

 

 



 
 

Over different periods it was in the hands of the Klan, a Pleasure Club Association and a college founded by the Young People's Association for the Propagation of the Gospel. It eventually became a military facility and at one point was refered to as the Army House of Magic. Radar, radio and top secret sattelites were invented and perfected. It was where Hoxie demonstrated his photographic recorder to the Navy.

Over several decades and many conflicts, their charge was to enhance the art of war through technology. I could not help but reflect on my use of their work in Vietnam. Counter mortar radar, proximity fuses, computer-assisted artillery fire and encrypted walkie-talkie communication all played a part in my missions to search and destroy people and their land.

I brought back war trophies and nightmares. I can not destroy the memories. My war trophy rifle is a relic left over from a previous war. We are currently fighting wars with enemies that are using the same weapons that were used against me. Mortars, snipers, and RPGs all show up in today's news, fighting against our technology enhanced military.

The ghost will never die. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, leading us into another tunnel.

Technology can't enhance the soul.

 

INFOAGE