...The guns fell silent in Europe. It had been a horrendous war, a "war to end wars," fought until the very last second at the insistence of the leaders, and surely the Western world had learned a lesson--
Two months shy of twenty-one years later,* they did it again, for over six years. And we still haven't put an end to evil -- or even to the conflict of moral equals.
Never forget this. And never forget the blood and toil of the men and women whose lives and labor are given to resolve these conflicts, as much as they can ever be resolved. History isn't markers on a map, it's people.
____________________________
* Even earlier in Asia, September 1931 or July 1937.
My dadlost two brothers to mustard gas in the war. One was in the 26th Division and one in the 82nd. My mother lost two older sisters to the 'Spanish Flu'. It was a tough stretch.
ReplyDeleteI feel kinda funny. On this the centennial. It still seems close, yet far away.
ReplyDelete