In a couple of days my country [Australia] will remember [celebrate seems the wrong word somehow] the official end of the First World War [I find it interesting that we number our World Wars]. It isn’t a holiday, and it is not the only ‘Remembrance Day’ that we observe, we have a holiday for Anzac Day, which is out official day of honouring our soldiers in all wars [and for a young country we have a LOT of them].
We seem to be tied to the First World war as it seems that we ‘became a country’ because of it [our soldiers were involved in the Boer war at the turn of the century. This was the first conflict that saw Australian soldiers in Australian uniforms]
My ancestors served with distinction in both World Wars [my grandfather’s two brothers both died in WW1], but despite my pride in them I cannot help but feel that my country is all too ready to fight in ‘other people’s wars’.
The photograph above shows a familiar sight during WW2. Soldiers heading off to battle with loved ones saying goodbye. I wonder how many of the people in this photo survived that conflict, and I wonder how many of the ‘loved ones’ saw their men come home.
On Friday [the day after our 41st wedding anniversary] at the eleventh hour, on the eleventh day, of the eleventh month, we will stop and briefly remember those who fought for us, so long ago.
The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month seems almost romantic, doesn’t it? I would have liked to have been in that room when they made that decision. A lot of soldiers died between the making of that decision and the time that it arrived. The US command in particular, who had traveled so far for such a short engagement were determined to make the most of their participation [these are not my words but theirs]. They sacrificed tens of thousands of their own troops in a desperate attempt to kill as many of the enemy as possible before the ‘deadline’. [what an appropriate word]
I narrowly missed being drafted into the Vietnam War, and I wonder what my story would have been if I had been forced to face the things that my ancestors faced.
spidersweb 