I hope you’ll forgive me for not having an outpouring of sentimentality on the issue.
Because I’ve been there.
War is the most ugliest and horrifying thing you could experience in life. Nothing prepares you for the sheer horror and terror that happens around you. Forget the films you have seen, where the soldier lies dying in the arms of one of his mates and gently slips away. I can’t even dare picture the sights I have seen less narrate them here.
We all go cuddly at this time of year and buy a poppy and bend our heads in two minutes of silence.
What we all should be doing, is doing our best to support our veterans, and our currently serving serviceman, for the whole year. Not remember them for one day. Think about them every day.
What we should be doing is demanding that our politicians do not expose our brave troops to the horrors of war other than an act of last resort (defending our Country or genuine humanitarian grounds). Politicians who play fast and loose with other peoples lives should be held accountable and punished.
ReplyDeleteGod bless our armed forces and God damn our Politicians.
I know & understand what you mean FE ..
ReplyDeleteBut I still felt it right to buy & wear my Poppy ..
And to attend my local War Memorial yesterday ..
I guess war is pretty close to what I can imagine it is, but I doubt I can imagine the emotions and instinctive feelings that take control. I doubt anyone can, it's probably difficult to recall anything other than your thoughts after the fact. Take any soldier at any point and ask them - if you had a button that could stop the war at this point, would you press it. Of course they would, and so the best way you can support soldiers is by pressing the button for them. To me, a poppy honours the noble death of a soldier, and I'd rather it acknowledged our shame for sending them to something we can't imagine and they can't stop. (There are caveats of course, but in general most, and certainly in my lifetime all, wars are preventable).
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