"The irony of course, is that we as a world can come together in peace
to remember past wars.
Then why continue to make our future an historic sadness?"

^ Wow. THIS.

Our orchestra just did a performance last night of Britten's War Requiem. Britten was a pacifist and composed a piece about the horrible effects of war, along with poems from English poet Wilfred Owen who was killed in action a week before the armistice. The requiem is dark, depressing and emotional. Thinking of this the past few days, I've actually been trying to write something about it and you said so much of what was in my heart. I'm still working on how to phrase things in my piece to make people realize how we may be ignorant to how often war is "glorified". I'm anti-war and I've written that a few times in my poetry... which doesn't always come across well to others. I frequently speak out against the military and I know I haven't said things in the best way because I have a tendency to say things harshly when I feel strongly about something. If more people can talk about why we feel war is so necessary, how we come to justify war and defend our actions, then I think we'll get further. Others have humbled me and helped me understand though that most people joining the military have good intentions and want to be of service to their country. I know not everyone is in the line of action yet I have a hard time when looking at the bigger picture, how we are contributing to a status that we must always protect our nation even if it means harming innocent civilians.

So many lives don't get to come home, so many convinced that this is the only way to find honor. And it's a cycle that never ends because war is ceaseless. Politicians will always be saying we need to defend ourselves. I believe money plays a big hand in it too.

A majority of veterans I know in our city are pacifists. We even have weekly protests they attend at our courthouse. When people criticize me or others for being anti-war, etc, they don't realize how we DO care about those in the aftermath of war. The biggest irony to me is in the way the government treats veterans and how many high school students see the military as their only option for a future, yet do not realize the burdens they must carry afterward. We have a large number of veterans who are homeless in our city and they are often overlooked. It breaks my heart because I feel like our country wants us to respect those who have served, yet when they come back from being deployed or if they are discharged, they are left in the streets where people judge or ignore them.

POWERFUL piece. Seriously. I'm going to add to my favorites. It's one thing to remember those lives lost and to come together in remembrance of them, it's another to blur the lines and still believe we need to send our fellow brothers and sisters to fight a war that will only bring more heartache and further what I believe is an agenda.

^(I do realize this is all in my naive opinion. It's only how I see things, I don't mean to cause trouble).

The people always share a common understanding, it's the ones in charge that are the problem and this has always been the case.

Ambition has probably been the biggest cause of destruction this planet has experienced. Oh religion has had a massive part to play in the slaughter too.

Sickening when you think it's still happening.

An excellent piece of work Michael and it raises some bloody good points.

As for me I paraded yesterday with my cadets and we attended a service on Saturday. It's important to remember those who made the sacrifice. It's also important to remember that on any side in any war there will be those who really can't wrap their heads around why they are trying to kill someone who's done bugger all to them.

Guess I'm a little blinkered myself at times.

Regards

Craig

Ps I would have loved to have lived (and probably died early) when it was like

Hey English, I'll trade two goats for that pig.
Hey Frenchie, throw in a chicken and it's a deal.

Oh and Frenchie! If you fancy a decent pint of ale it's only a 20 mile paddle. Lol

Wow Michael, deep write. Growing up in a military family I have seen both sides to this. You made many good points. It would be a wonderful world indeed if we could all come together and work with each other. Unfortunately there is so much hate all around us, I think we will destroy each other before we help each other. But I will always hold out hope.