Thinking

The South Gate of Hougoumont
(Source)

I've stood on that ground, in front of that building in the opening photograph, and wondered, what was it like for the men fighting for that key terrain feature on the 18th of June 1815?

No doubt they were scared, when they weren't busy doing their jobs. Load, fire, move, load, fire, move again, watch your buddies die. Move, load, fire again, maybe see an enemy fall as the result of your fire. Remembering that always makes me think.

I wore a uniform for twenty-four years and got nowhere near combat. My son had been in uniform for perhaps a year when he found himself on a destroyer in the Red Sea, firing Tomahawk missiles in anger.

I have studied war my entire life, I find it fascinating. Yet I know that people die in horrible ways and suffer unbelievable agony in war. War is a destroyer. As the old saying goes, "War is not healthy for children and other living things."

Quite true, you can buy a poster from Amazon for $6.99 which says just that. But I'm here to tell you my friends, it ain't that simple.

There are people out there who hunger for that which does not belong to them. There are people out there who hunger for raw power, the power to force other people to do their bidding. These people often resort to war to achieve those ends.

When attacked it is righteous to fight back, to resist, even to kill those who seek to take that which is not theirs. But once again, it ain't that simple.

The common man (or woman these days) is often at the mercy of powers they cannot control. Being drafted into the military is one of those things.

Say you're a simple Russian kid, hanging out in some big city or some small town out in the Russian boondocks. One day your draft notice shows up. It's not something you can ignore, governments have power. The power to throw you in prison, the power to make sure you don't have a job, Hell, they can do that to your whole family.

So you go, next thing you know you're riding in a BMP¹ somewhere in Ukraine with angry Ukrainians trying to kill you and your buddies. But why? What did you ever do to them? Well, nothing, but your government did. They decided to invade Ukraine for whatever reasons they felt required armed conflict.

Change the name of the country, you're a British kid in 1776, you're a German kid in 1940, or an American kid in 1965. Government says, "you're in the army," what can you do? You go, you try to stay alive, you kill those trying to kill you. Or you die.

War sucks but as long as there is evil and greed in this world, it will persist ...

Veterans Day was Friday. We had a nice ceremony at work honoring veterans. Yeah, yeah, thank me for my service, I do appreciate it. But for me, November 11th will always be Remembrance Day, Armistice Day.

As I stood there, holding the Air Force flag I might add, I couldn't help but remember those who went before, and didn't come back. I did shed a wee tear as taps was played.

So I didn't want the weekend to pass without mentioning a few names:

• Lex
• Kurt
• Taj
• Nate
• Uncle Robert
• Stefan
• Albert

Thanks guys, I remember you. I will say your names until my breath fails me. You are not forgotten ...

It's all we can do² ...

¹ Boevaya Mashina Pehoty (Боевая Машина Пехоты) literally "infantry combat vehicle."

² If you want peace, prepare for war.