God damnit dude what the fuck were you thinking
Reminds me of this incredible radio call from a WW2 vet on why he loathes D-day celebrations. He fought the most just war, and yet he views the celebrations and jingoism as the same as WW1 which made him sign up in the first place, not because ww2 was a just war, but to “be a man” and all that. Now he feels disgusted looking at the worship of all these bombers and tanks and medals, these weapons they used to kill human beings and intent to use to kill more, the same ones his friends died using. It is just a promise that more men will die, more men will live with the guilt of having killed, etc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq5oNPTWQMs
I’m not happy about the way we remember the Fallen I mean all the pomp and circumstance the ceremony and the military fanfare the salutes we’re using the very paraphernalia which killed them and look I have a long story but I’ll keep to the one point. but my pilot was a rather wonderful chap and we were hit now he couldn’t bail out because the upper gun parachute was torn to shreds and I gave his parachute that was the arrangement between us and I remember him we were still that calm look on his face. he was only 23 an Australian he knew he was going to die and he nodded his thanks and I bailed out.
now I don’t need trumpets, I don’t need military men,I don’t need salutes to remember him I remember him almost every day; now in my early 90s and I do I do I was one of three survivors on that evening three of our Halifax bombers were shot down 21 rather wonderful chaps out of the 21 just three of a survivor and to me it seems wrong to to think about them only with guns, somehow it’s saying that his killing is good when I was a kid I used to try and get my father who was in the Royal Artillery to talk about the war, he seldom did but I remember how my brother and I used to listen to the Senators ceremonial each year and we’d see the soldiers locally you know with with the paintings and a drill and it all seemed to me to be rather wonderful. hmm and this form of ceremony is somehow saying in spite of the words of sorrow we say, in spite of the regret and that it may not happen again, we somehow magnifying we’re making it seem rather it made me think there was something rather wonderful something heroic in killing and the whole way we approach these things rather upsets me in a way
…that’s my point of view and I do feel with all the killing and all the government’s decorations there should be someone somewhere even if it’s a tiny voice which says no
IKR? Whenever I see jingoism or even on the left an over celebration of war I listen to this. makes me cry a bit every time. It is a beautiful sentiment and one that for the 80 years since WW2 has been drowned out even when it is the position of veterans like this. If people want to honor the dead, honor them, don’t use their deaths as glory for more killing or a fetish to make other men kill to feel proud of themselves.
