Category
War
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War
Good-Bye To All That
I was born in 1968, fifty years after the end of the Great War. At that time, veterans of World War I were younger than WWII veterans are today. But as this excellent essay in The Economist notes, with the passing of the last two British combat veterans, that war has passed from living memory into the pages of history.
I think that WWI is notable because it was the first war of a recognizably modern age. Sure, most transport was still by horse, but there were trucks and airplanes as well. Machine guns, fast-firing artillery, and poison gas – all the modern conveniences of killing.
WWI is also notable for its indescribable futility. Though I have obviously only read about it, it’s clear that nothing was gained by the fighting; the late Harry Patch (111 years old) and Henry Allingham (113) both saw action at Passchendaele, where it took three months and 300,000 lives to capture five miles. When it was over, the captured land had been reduced to a sea of mud. If you slipped off the duckboards that crisscrossed it, you could literally drown, and many did. The greatest of the war poems was written about this battle.
The was swept away the old imperial era, replacing dynasties with progressive governments that promised modernity, but the instability resulted in WWII just twenty years later.
I believe that wars can be necessary and even moral, but we should never forget that, no matter its outcome, was produces misery, suffering and death. It kills many fine young men, and should never be entered into lightly. Even in a push-button age, we must count the costs, and never forget.
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Dave White, Heroes, War
9/11, Eight Years On
I don’t have much to add to what I’ve said in past years, except to remember those who ran into burning buildings to save who they could – and stand ready to do it again. And I want to encourage you to read the best story I have ever seen about 9/11, “Closure” by Dave White.
Dave has written more technically competent stories since then, and both his novels have been nominated for awards, but I’m not sure he’ll ever write another story as moving as that one.
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Heroes, War
D-Day
I finally found out the reason why: it was because of the National Guard.
Actually, I guess it’s a little more complex than that. But ultimately, a National Guard unit is why the National D-Day Memorial is in Bedford, Virginia, my dad’s home town.
Times were tough all over back in the late 1930s, as the Great Depression showed few signs of letting up. People stuggled to get by as best they could. A few dollars here or there could keep hungry bellies full.
For many young men in Bedford, those dollars came from the National Guard. A drill session once a month and summer camp in Virginia Beach were all that was required. It’s really no surprise that many signed up.
Then the war came, and the Guard unit was absorbed whole into the Army. That’s why so many men from the same area ended up serving together.
And on June 6th, 1944, thirty five of these young men from Bedford climbed into boats and headed for a beach on the coast of France code-named Omaha. By the end of the day nineteen of them would be dead, many of them without ever touching French soil. Their section of the beach was not captured in the assault; instead the Army broke through to the east and captured that part of Omaha from the rear.
And that’s the reason why.
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