A little research reveals something I was either never taught, or didn't realize at the time. They called it World War One, but in reality, it was the great massacre. Million died fighting for a few yards of real estate, while the most modern of military technology smashed, hacked, gassed, and crushed those unfortunate enough to be fighting along the long lines of trenches. The scars of the long struggle are still visible, and even now, the fields are distorted by huge craters surrounding long furrows that were once deep trenches; like the thrashings of a drunk giant.
This was repeated in WW2. Millions died, while half-mad rulers dictated their demise with impunity. They never suffered the horrors of battle, but those they sent to the carnage did. It continued in Korea, Vietnam, the Middle East, and continues today in places that the majority of supposedly educated people couldn't find on a map, if their life depended on it.
Hopefully, those that served will never be forgotten, even though today doesn't have any meaning to most that take for granted those that served their country. We call them veterans, and they have a day for us to remember their sacrifices. Honor them, and never forget they have dreams, families, careers, and all must be pushed to the side while they serve. It may seem an insignificant thing, but to our veterans, it gives them some satisfaction for their sacrifices. While the day was created mark the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month that was the official end of WW1, it continues to remember all the wars, and peace time efforts, of those that served.
Should never have happened, especially with assistance from the United States.
ReplyDeleteIt's an interesting thought process to imagine Europe without the help of the U.S. to fight the war. It would be different, and the second world war might have never been fought.
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