Remembrance Day was just an annoyance back in school ((Having a day dedicated to a certain thing seems a bit silly to me.)), but when I consider the lives and suffering of soldiers, I am respectful and appreciative. It’s not a job I would want, but it is a necessary job ((I hope that, one day, soldiers are no longer necessary.)).
Although I haven’t had any relatives who’ve fought in the wars – I don’t even know anyone working for a military body – my appreciation is personal. I’m 18 years old now, and whilst I enjoy a comfortable and safe life, if born at various times in the last century, I could have been forced to join the army and fight in a war. I can attempt to imagine how horrible that must have felt, and I am grateful to have escaped it.
Millions have lost their lives on all sides of war; some die for a worthy cause, others don’t. I suspect that most don’t. I may not agree with particular wars, but a soldier doesn’t choose his enemy ((I’m ignoring ‘terrorists’ at the moment – I don’t consider terrorists to be soldiers, but definitions of ‘terrorist’ vary greatly.)), yet he endures war’s most awful costs. Civilians get killed, people get wounded, and in some countries even children are enlisted to fight. We may not support particular people, but we can still remember them.
Many people use this day to congratulate and thank only their own country’s soldiers ((Americans are particularly keen to pronounce theirs ‘the best in the world’.)), but I can’t understand that ((I’m also not keen on patriotism – it’s almost as bad as being proud of the colour of your skin. What would be so wrong with us all living as one nation, really?)). Some countries work together on the same side ((Such as in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the World Wars.)), and in any case, soldiers on both sides of a war are in exactly the same situation – making the same sacrifices, risking their lives to serve their country. They might be with us, against us, good, bad, right, wrong, justified, unwilling, stupid. They just follow different orders.
I might not be thankful when, for instance, a soldier fights to topple Saddam Hussein, and I might not agree with a German joining the Luftwaffe to fight for the Nazis, but I can still think about the fact that a person was in a situation where he risked his life – ostensibly – for others. Our fallen truly are victims, yet so are fallen enemies. We can learn from them, and we can remember them and their horrible deaths. “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it” – George Santayana ((I know I’m mixing many points here, and indeed in this whole post, but I’m not a skilled enough thinker or writer to sort them out properly. And I want to get to bed.)).
We remember.
I guess I agree but with that logic we might a as well be remembering every event that has lead up to this moment.
Agreed on the countries thing; unfortunately humans seem to be inherently secular and malicious to those with opposing views. I doubt we’ll be seeing a united world in our lifetimes.
Also, I’ve been blog rolled D:
Yeah. That last quotation confuses matters; which if you think about it would make it seems like we should remember eveything. Maybe we should, but it’s obviously not practical.
Remembrance day is tricky business. Why should you limit your remembrance to your country’s soldiers, and then why not to all war dead, then why not all war victims, and then why not just remember everyone and everything. I don’t think I can make a case for soldiers being special, and I should have thought more before writing this.
It was just the thought that at my age I could have been fighting in the trenches, and it horrified me. Perhaps remembering isn’t the right word for what I’m doing, maybe just thinking about them, and only once, is what I’m on about. Maybe I wanted to say: Ive done my remembering, thanks, bye. Everyone wants to be remembered when they’re dead, and soldiers aren’t necessarily the most worthy.
I know the solution isn’t to remember no one, but how do we pick who to?
Maybe it’s not important.
Do you want to be de-blogrolled? I thought you might appreciate the huge traffic I’d give you.
I was coming from a different angle (I skim read and didn’t really register the final quote – despite it being in bold AND italics) but yeah, “why not just remember everyone and everything” sums up what I was hinting at.
X minute silences also annoy me.
As for the blogroll thing; no, I really don’t mind. It just reminds me that I should probably get blogging again.
Right, OK. I’ve have enough of this topic now. (Though I agree with the X min silence bit).
Please do blog moar.
Your theme has changed or I’m going crazy after looking at too many solid blocks of colour.
Yes, I changed the colours slightly last week to punish those with large screens.
Background needs to be an insane blue. Slightly off white text. No vertical borders. Then you’re sorted.
I think insane’s the right word.