It remains the case that those in power who call for war are often not the same people whose lives and families bear the brunt of armed conflict. If ever there were an expert on war's costs—physical, psychological and political—it would be Vietnam veteran, author and activist Ron Kovic, who gave voice to the voiceless and put the unspeakable into words in his memoir, "Born on the Fourth of July," and in his newest book, "Hurricane Street."

In fact, Kovic has lived with that knowledge for nearly half a century, after being wounded and paralyzed from the chest down while serving in Vietnam as a United States Marine Corps sergeant in 1968. During a Facebook Live session at Truthdig headquarters on Thursday, Kovic posed some questions that presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton should have to answer.

"Both [candidates] running for president are talking about 'the need to go to war,' " Kovic said. "Define that for me ... what's that going to mean? What are you going to do, send troops to Syria? What's going to be the result of that?"