Today is Veterans Day here in the US. It was called Armistice Day to mark the anniversary of the treaty that ended “the war to end all wars.” Of course, wars don’t end other wars just as having more guns doesn’t prevent gun violence: something the rest of the developed world has figured out.
Speaking of the rest of the world: Much of it commemorates this day as “Remembrance Day” which, I believe, is more fitting. Veterans should indeed be honored—every day—by giving them what they need. (I say this as someone who believes the only true advancement the human race can make is to get rid of war.) And those who died, voluntarily or involuntarily, in whatever cause, should be remembered in the way any other tragedy is remembered.
Anyway, I took a ride today. The destination and distance are not important, at least to me. Rather, it was a necessary and fulfilling meditation, in part because I passed a few monuments to “the fallen.” I only wish those plaques and statues would emphasize the lost life, usually at a very young age, rather than “heroism” which, in time, is as forgotten as the “hero.”
Vietnam Veteran Bruce Weigl gave a much better tribute than I ever could:
Elegy
Into sunlight they marched,
Into dog day, into no saints day,
And were cut down.
They marched without knowing
How the air would be sucked from their lungs,
How their lungs would collapse,
How the world would twist itself, would
Bend into the cruel angle.
Into the black understanding they marched
Until the angels came
Calling their names,
Until they rose, one by one from the blood.
The light blasted down on them.
The bullets sliced through the razor grass
So there was not even time to speak.
The words would not let themselves be spoken.
Some of them died.
Some of them were not allowed to.
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