Why should I feel bad, after all, it isn't me who was
One of A E Housman's "Army of Mercenaries."
One of many, whom all too many have sneered at, labeling them "Losers and Suckers. "
Many men and women have paid the ultimate price in defense of our way of life.
For the United States, our attention first got drawn to this concept by the United States Civil War.
We lost so many men in that war that we established a special day on which we would gather in peace in order to maintain and clean up the headstones and memorials of our war dead. People would go to the local military cemetery and clean up the grave sites, put fresh flowers on them, and bring a picnic lunch to share. It was not a carnival atmosphere, but a quiet day of contemplation and prayer. The military bands would come later. The Jingoism would come later. But those things don't take away from the true purpose of the occasion.I'm not trying to say that no war is ever justified. But that war, all war, is horrors. It is immoral in the highest degree to wage war for trivial, spurious, or reasons of material gain.
But don't believe me. Ask any of the veterans of the late generational war in Iraq or Afghanistan. I'm not going to bore you with statistics, you can get that at Wikipedia. So, go and have your beer, grill some hotdogs , and enjoy the day. Chances are you've earned a holiday, and so relax and enjoy. But take a moment or two out of your fun and think about the men and women who aren't here to join in the celebration. Remember them, and remember too that as Sherman said:
"I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all
moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the
shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for
vengeance, for desolation. War is hell. "William Tecumseh Sherman
Hymn for the Fallen: John Williams
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