Those four simple words haunt me, for they were part of the last conversation I had with my next door neighbour before he was deployed to Afghanistan. On his very first shift outside his base camp he stepped on an IED.
One freakin' shift...dead.
There is no glory in war. There is no righteousness in violence. It is those that govern or rule us that cause more death and hardship than any terrorist attack could ever do. We live in an era where the common person can communicate with virtually everyone else on the planet yet we allow sociopathic politicians and governments to engage in perpetual conflict.
The real evil in all this is easily identified if you follow the money. The military industrial complex is obvious, the banksters that fund them (and at times will fund both sides of a conflict), and the politicians that leverage the first two in order to get and stay elected. Once the politicians are elected the cycle can renew via ever increasing laws and actions that benefit the first two groups.
Not only do we pay dearly now, but our descendants are born into perpetual debt based on this system. On so many levels, the more you empower governments and rulers, the more the influence can be bought by those that profit from the brutal and systemic violence that inevitably results.
Right or left, both sides are on the same team on this (and many other populous controlling mechanisms), thus I am a political atheist. Fear mongering, propaganda and even false flag events are par for the course. Why?
Maybe "Lest We Forget" should be replaced with "Lest We Think".
Here is a video from a Canadian philosopher that has never been mentioned on CP before (surprisingly), Stefan Molyneux. Take the time to watch.
RIP Steve
/rant
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This is the most poignant song I can think of for today:
Sixteen years old
when I went to the war
To fight for a land fit for heroes
God on my side
and a gun in my hand
Chasing my days down to zero
And I marched, and I fought
And I bled, and I died
And I never did get any older
But I knew at the time
That a year in the line
Was a long enough life for a soldier
We all volunteered
An dwe wrote down our names
And we added two years to our ages
Eager for life
And ahead of the game
Ready for history's pages
And we brawled, and we fought
And we hoped to be stuped
Ten thousand shoulder to shoulder
At thirst for the Hun
We were food for the gun
And that's what you are when you're soldiers
I heard my friend cry
As he sank to his knees
Coughing blood as he screemed for his mother
And I fell by his side
And that's how we died
Clinging like kids to each other
And I lay in the mud, and the guts and the blood
And I wept as his body grew colder
And I called for my mother, but she never came
Though it wasn't my fault, and I wasn't to blame
The day not half over, and ten thousand slain
And now there's nobody remembers our names
And that's how it is
For each soldier
__________________
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To me, this day should be for remembering the sacrifices made by those like your neighbor, not for ranting about war.
So no, 'Lest We Forget' is just fine.
Well that's the official line but the inference, while watching the parades and ceremonies, is look at all these brave soldiers, which does it's part in encouraging our youth to think it's cool..
There is an International Day of Peace on Sept. 21 and I'll be glad when this is promoted by our governments and media to the extent that war is promoted.
Well that's the official line but the inference, while watching the parades and ceremonies, is look at all these brave soldiers, which does it's part in encouraging our youth to think it's cool..
There is an International Day of Peace on Sept. 21 and I'll be glad when this is promoted by our governments and media to the extent that war is promoted.
That's not how I see it at all. Granted I'm older, as I think you are too, but to remember the price that has been paid by the soldiers doesn't glorify war at all. If anything it's absolutely necessary to remember their sacrifices as I don't think there are many greater.
That's not how I see it at all. Granted I'm older, as I think you are too, but to remember the price that has been paid by the soldiers doesn't glorify war at all. If anything it's absolutely necessary to remember their sacrifices as I don't think there are many greater.
In the end though, sacrificing for what? In most cases it's for the egos of one leader or another with no gain for the common man.
In the end though, sacrificing for what? In most cases it's for the egos of one leader or another with no gain for the common man.
About 3 years after my tour I went to a lecture about the action in Medak and weeks after. I presented my thoughts and views, much to the disgust of many present. Afterwards a women (a recent immigrant to Canada from The Krijina) can up to me and thanked me. Some of her family were able to survive as a result of the actions of my battalion. I like to think my sacrifice was for people like her.
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Young men, soldiers, Nineteen Fourteen
Marching through countries they'd never seen
Virgins with rifles, a game of charades
All for a Children's Crusade
Pawns in the game are not victims of chance
Strewn on the fields of Belgium and France
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
The children of England would never be slaves
They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation
Corpulent generals safe behind lines
History's lessons drowned in red wine
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a Children's Crusade
The children of England would never be slaves
They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation
Midnight in Soho, Nineteen Eighty-four
Fixing in doorways, opium slaves
Poppies for young men, such bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a Children's Crusade
In the end though, sacrificing for what? In most cases it's for the egos of one leader or another with no gain for the common man.
It's not just about the most recent conflicts though. It's just as much, if not more, about wars that are in danger of being forgotten. Not many vets left from WWI now and today is about their (absolutely horrific) sacrifice as well and that was not about egos at all.
Rememberence day has nothing to do with specific leaders or countries but everything to do with what individual soldiers, who had nothing to do with the politics of any conflict, have done for us, whether we agree with it or not.
Young men, soldiers, Nineteen Fourteen
Marching through countries they'd never seen
Virgins with rifles, a game of charades
All for a Children's Crusade
Pawns in the game are not victims of chance
Strewn on the fields of Belgium and France
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
The children of England would never be slaves
They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation
Corpulent generals safe behind lines
History's lessons drowned in red wine
Poppies for young men, death's bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a Children's Crusade
The children of England would never be slaves
They're trapped on the wire and dying in waves
The flower of England face down in the mud
And stained in the blood of a whole generation
Midnight in Soho, Nineteen Eighty-four
Fixing in doorways, opium slaves
Poppies for young men, such bitter trade
All of those young lives betrayed
All for a Children's Crusade
Quote:
Few of the sins of the father
Are visited upon the son
Hearts have been hard
Hands have been clenched into fists too long
Our sons need never be soldiers
Our daughters will never need guns
These are the years between
These are the years that were hard fought and won
Contracts torn at the edges
Old signatures stained with tears
Seasons of war and grace
These should not be forgotten years
Still it aches like tetanus
It reeks of politics
How many dreams remain?
This is a feeling too strong to contain
The hardest years, the darkest years
The roarin' years, the fallen years
These should not be forgotten years
The hardest years the wildest years
The desperate and divided years
Our shoreline was never invaded
Our country was never in flames
This is the calm we breathe
This is a feeling too strong to contain
Still it aches like tetanus
It reeks of politics
Signatures stained with tears
Who can remember, we've got to remember
The hardest years, the darkest years...
Forsaking aching breaking years
The time 'n' tested heartbreak years
These should not be forgotten years
The blinded years, the binded years
The desperate and divided years
These should not be forgotten years
Remember
About 3 years after my tour I went to a lecture about the action in Medak and weeks after. I presented my thoughts and views, much to the disgust of many present. Afterwards a women (a recent immigrant to Canada from The Krijina) can up to me and thanked me. Some of her family were able to survive as a result of the actions of my battalion. I like to think my sacrifice was for people like her.
I take it you were on a peace mission. I'm not against soldiers or other enforcers of common law. I am against the needless wars that only help the elite. From what I know the situation you were put in was caused by old hatreds and ideologies. To me that's egoism. I'm not singling you out, you were on an honourable mission, I'm singling out the leaders and people who caused the war.
It's not just about the most recent conflicts though. It's just as much, if not more, about wars that are in danger of being forgotten. Not many vets left from WWI now and today is about their (absolutely horrific) sacrifice as well and that was not about egos at all.
Rememberence day has nothing to do with specific leaders or countries but everything to do with what individual soldiers, who had nothing to do with the politics of any conflict, have done for us, whether we agree with it or not.
I agree WW1 wasn't about the soldiers egos but it sure was about the leaders egos. For myself, I wouldn't be interested in furthering their aims. At one time the leaders were the ones who lead the army into battle, now they just sit back in their safe havens playing games with others lives.
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I take it you were on a peace mission. I'm not against soldiers or other enforcers of common law. I am against the needless wars that only help the elite. From what I know the situation you were put in was caused by old hatreds and ideologies. To me that's egoism. I'm not singling you out, you were on an honourable mission, I'm singling out the leaders and people who caused the war.
Well that's the official line but the inference, while watching the parades and ceremonies, is look at all these brave soldiers, which does it's part in encouraging our youth to think it's cool..
There is an International Day of Peace on Sept. 21 and I'll be glad when this is promoted by our governments and media to the extent that war is promoted.
You don't have a clue about what November 11th is about. And I certainly hope that if you have kids that your teaching your kids about the meaning of today, and not going omg this is wrong because it makes soldiers look cool.
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You don't have a clue about what November 11th is about. And I certainly hope that if you have kids that your teaching your kids about the meaning of today, and not going omg this is wrong because it makes soldiers look cool.
Oh I understand it well enough and it could be argued that you are the one who is out of touch, considering your background. As for my kids, they've got kids of their own and I hope they never sign up to satisfy some leaders egotism.
I look at the veterans and then I think of how I spent my 20's (going to the bar, playing sports, trying to figure stuff out), and then I try and wrap my head around what they might have been doing in their 20's.
It is truly hard to wrap your head around how anyone can work and do what needs to be done in that environment.
Thanks, is all we can say.....
__________________
If I do not come back avenge my death
I look at the veterans and then I think of how I spent my 20's (going to the bar, playing sports, trying to figure stuff out), and then I try and wrap my head around what they might have been doing in their 20's.
It is truly hard to wrap your head around how anyone can work and do what needs to be done in that environment.
Thanks, is all we can say.....
__________________
If I do not come back avenge my death
Not sure if they have anything like this in Calgary... but I grew up in a neighbourhood here in Saskatoon called Montgomery. It is named after Bernard Montgomery and every street is named after some significant World War event or person. Dieppe, Caen, Normandy, Mountbatten etc..
When the vets got back from WW2, like my Grandpa, they were given a choice. A lump sum of money or a plot of land in what would be Montgomery. These were half acre lots that many of which still stand unmolested (some of have been sub divided but a recent bylaw passed prevents that now).
Here is a recent article talking about the monument erected with all of the veterans names on it who served and lived in Montgomery:
Plaques on every street describe the significance behind the name (spoilered for size):
Spoiler!
__________________ "In brightest day, in blackest night / No evil shall escape my sight / Let those who worship evil's might / Beware my power, Green Lantern's light!"
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Remembering - The Ghosts Of War
