| Quite frankly I think there's way too much glorification of war these days. If we were that worried about not forgetting peoples "sacrifice" we would be trying to avoid war at all costs rather than rushing headlong into it. Where's the day of rememberence for all the Iraqi civilians killed over the last few years?
The people who faught and died at Galipoli or the Somme weren't heroes, they were people who would face a firing squad if they didn't go over the top. People should be saying what a tragedy and a waste it is to rather than going on about fallen heroes.
Same goes for the Kokoda Track. I guarantee a fair few of those volunteers wished they hadn't volunteered once they realised what they had got themselves into but if you were stuck out in the arse end of nowhere with no support expecting to be killed at any moment you would step up to the plate too.
I'm an ex soldier myself and have experienced the whole "let's go and do what we're trained for" feeling but looking back that was when I was 18 and now I'm damn glad that in the end Northern Ireland was the only place I ever went where it was possible to get shot at.
Craig |