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| There was never a good war, or a bad peace. ~Benjamin Franklin~ |
As you join in Remembrance Day ceremonies and watch images on the news of men and women in spotlessly clean uniforms marching with heads held high, take a moment to close your eyes and picture them instead in sodden, muddy, torn uniforms, limbs missing and bleeding, guts falling out, horror on their faces, the bodies of women, men, children and animals lying around them, villages demolished.
As you honour the minute of silence at 11:00 AM, hear instead the sounds of people screaming in terror, the deafening roar of bombs exploding, the high pitched air raid sirens, and the barely-audible sound of soldiers and civilians taking their last breath.
As you breath in the autumn air, smell instead the stench of decomposing bodies on the battle fields and in bombed out towns, the odor of feces in the trenches and in the pants of the scared-shitless youth powerful leaders have sent into battle, the acrid gas of the Holocaust chambers that killed so many millions.
That is the reality of war, those are the images and sounds and smells we must keep at the forefront, the memories we must share with our children, if ever we are really to honor the slogan "Never Again".
I cannot attend Remembrance Day services where the horrors of war are scrubbed clean, and little children go home to play with their toy solders and toy guns with no conception of what real war is like.
War is horrific. Lest we Forget.
2 comments:
Yes, Jean, those who faced active combat know the truth of your words. I understand your reluctance to "dress up" that ugliness. The reality is brutal! Your honesty is something I deeply respect.
Well said, Jean, thank you so much.
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