It’s Armistice Day and this is a major day that should always be held up for the world to see. I’m not saying that I’ll be banging the drum of UK military might or that it’s only that we should be concerned with the allies.
Armistice Day is there to show that all those who served were doing just that, serving.
The armed forces the world over are there in a multitude of forms and they depend on the perspective you have. Are they the righteous force for good reaching out to spread their goodness to the world or are they despotic invaders wanting to bring the world to it’s knees?
All in all, the way we see the actions of troops or armies is the major point rather than the troops themselves.
At this time of year, we see so very many examples of old warriors remembering with tears in their eyes, the friends that they lost on any number of battlefields around the world. They recount tales of brutality and terror as they looked into the abyss of war and strode onwards without a thought for themselves. These aren’t people who glorify war or long for the fight. The stories they tell are of the friends they made and lost. They remember that they were never war mongers and rather that they just wanted to protect the ones they loved. And very often, they are crushed by the weight of guilt as they bare the weight of the years they had which their friends didn’t.
On Armistice Day, we don’t cheer for war. On Armistice Day we remember the ones who stood to protect.
Owen Elgie 