Stephen Leonard's family has served in every war waged by this country, from the Revolutionary War to the war in Iraq. When he was growing up, his father, a WWII veteran, wanted Steve to consider serving in Vietnam. Steve wanted no part of it, and found it painful to disappoint his dad.
But the lesson of their arguments, which lasted the better part of two years, was one of principle: it wasn't okay to say that he simply didn't want to go to war; he had to articulate why he didn't believe that the war was just.