War & Veterans

Veteran’s Day. May God Bless our veterans! We who have never served in the U.S. military are indebted to the many soldiers who have given of their lives to secure safety and freedom for the rest of us. Some are sacrificed on the battlefield, as if the blood of young men is the price of freedom.

On this day it makes no difference what we might think about the various wars that our soldiers have and are involved in, at least not to me. The fact is most young soldiers care little about the politics involved in our nation going to war, their goal is to accomplish the mission they are sent on, without a lot of analysis as to the ‘why’ of their job.

I read history. The extreme suffering by soldiers, in every war, makes it evident that freedom is not “free”. It was obtained by soldiers and fighting men and women in the late 1700’s. Since then American soldiers have been called upon to fight many conflicts in the interest of keeping that freedom that was bought at such a high price.

War is not something that rational people what to see, yet when it comes, thousands of young Americans volunteer to fight. I have no interest in debating the moral implications of war, the fact is that if a nation wants to be free, there will be times when war is the only way to settle the question.

No nation that has ever existed is morally compelled to accept attacks from outside forces without putting up a fight in self defense.

This day was set aside in 1918 as Armistice Day to celebrate the end of the “War to End All Wars”, better know as World War I. The fact that this horrific war, fought in Europe, did not end war now stands as a monument to the folly of the notion that war can always be avoided. The reality is that this world has plenty of ‘madmen’ who are willing to sacrifice the lives of others for some cause that they deem most important, when these people get into positions of power they can and do, bring war upon nations. As nice and cozy as the thought of abolishing war is, it is only a delusion to believe that it is possible in a world gone mad.

Some like to think war could be avoided if some kind of “world government” could be put in place whereby all nations sign on to a peaceful co-existence. Dream on, it would be a nice reality, but human nature is not likely to change anytime soon. Thus we have thousands of American men and women in uniform this very day, some of them are likely to die today by violence on battle fields in various parts of the world. My hope is that they die with a personal feeling that their nation is thankful for their sacrifice. I am.

I read recently that in 1913, the year before the “great war” broke out, that people in general just had a gut feeling that something bad was on the horizon, nations were moving in too many opposite directions for peace to remain. Some nations were building up arms and armies at a pace that appeared they were planning on needing them, Germany in particular. Many governments were telling their citizens that everything was fine, no need to worry about a war in Europe, then a shot was fired, one man was assassinated and the world went to war.

We truly do have a lot of forces on edge this very day. In the middle east we have a powder keg just waiting for the “short fuse” to be lit. History has shown that economic depressions make for a dangerous world. Though our news media and government avoids the word depression as if it was ‘taboo’, the real condition of the world’s economy is little different than a true depression. When economies of nations begin to crumble and governments fall, the finger pointing begins. From there it is just a small step for one nation to threaten another. A few rude exchanges and next bullets fly and the process spirals out of control. We would rather live at peace, but don’t be deluded into thinking it is a possibility anytime soon.

As long as there are wars, there will be veterans to thank for their service.

To all veterans on this Veteran’s Day, Thank You and May God Bless You!