Memorial Day

Today is Memorial Day here in the US, where we honor and remember all those who have died fighting for this country. As opposed to Remembrance Day in Europe and Canada which was created in response to the horrific human cost of World War I, Memorial Day here in the US actually originated as a holiday remembering all those, Union and Confederate, who died in the Civil War.

There is probably no one alive today in this country who knew someone who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War I, but there are many who still live today who knew those who died in World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam and Southeast Asia, Beirut, the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, and many other engagements too numerous to mention. In remembering and honoring those brave men and women today, we might also reflect on the failure of humanity that made their sacrifice necessary and how we can perhaps do better today and in the future.

My father was lucky enough to survive World War II, and it really was just pure luck that he did so. But, as a child, when I asked him about his war experiences, he always replied with virtually the same answer, “The only thing you ever need to know about war is that is an enormous waste of resources and people”. It’s a lesson we never seem to really learn.