Standing all alone 23 years ago I read this inscription on a monument in Thiepval France: That the world may remember the common sacrifice of two and a half million dead, here have been laid side by side Soldiers of France and of the British Empire in eternal comradeship. I was struck dumb by the scale of loss of life. It struck me of what a catastrophic failure the Great War was. A failure of our nations leaders, a failure of our Military Commanders to protect our soldiers and a failure of every subsequent generation to learn the lesson of this war. When we got sick of the killing we just shook hands and went home and accomplished nothing. After the war it was the greed of nations that has set the stage for todays conflicts as we fight this same war today. It seems to me that the veterans of this war really meant about the symbolism of the Poppy is not about the sacredness of sacrifice but the sacredness of peace. We look to them as Heros but they see themselves as men once frightened and now damaged. Tomorrow as I trumpet the last post I will be thinking not only of these young victims of a brutal war but of the sacredness of the peace in which I now live.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Nov 2014 03:34:49 +0000
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