Comments about Burma..I mean Myanmar

I was watching the news about the protests in Myanmar with a sinking feeling. Its not that I'm not thrilled that an oppressed people, lead by the otherwise peaceful Buddhist monks of their country, are trying to remove the military boot on their necks that holds them down. Quite the contrary. My concern is a memory I have of a weekend in June of 1989.

I had been following the developments in China the whole last 6 weeks of my high school career. The Sunday of the crackdown, my family and I were driving back from Virginia where we had attended my cousin's high school graduation, in preparation for my own graduation that Monday. They interrupted radio service to announce it. I will never forget the feeling of disgust, fear, and youthful shock when I finally got to a TV and saw one lone student, probably not much older than myself, taking on a tank. That memory will be burned in my brain forever.

So, 18 years later, I watch the news reports with baited breath and hope the people of Burma can pull off a revolution, without taking on tanks.