Armistice Day

It's the 11th of November and everywhere in Europe there have been ceremonies in villages, towns and cities to commemorate the combattants who lost their lives during the Great War of 1914-1918.
The First World War was vicious and deadly for France, as well as most other European countries. France lost 6 million young men between the ages of 18 and 40. The generation lost was never really replaced and it led to a continuing lack of manpower at a time when machines were just beginning to replace the hard work of human beings. The same could be said of England and Germany. It is often cited by historians as a major cause of the decline of 20th century Europe.
It was the trenches that took the greatest toll - even for those who survived. The soldiers, most without any military training, were thrown into the trenches to be led out into the no man's land where most were shot or bayonneted. The Germans used mustard gas to attack the soldiers while they were waiting in the damp trenches for their turn to die. Being "gassed" was the road to physical and mental problems that lasted all their lives.
Today, at a time when we are likely to glorify war in the name of freedom and to celebrate the young men and women who volunteer to defend democracy, it would be well to reflect on World War I.  When we ask our youth, whom we all would agree are our best hope for the future, to give up their lives or be maimed physically or mentally by the horrors of war, it would be wise to remember the trench warfare of 1914-1918. Modern equipment and technology may have distanced soldiers from trenches, but they are still just as vulnerable to death and injury, both physical and psychological.
My father was a professional soldier, and was very good at his job, but he hated war with a passion. He never used a gun in civilian life. He always stayed in contact with the families of every soldier who died under his command. And, he often said that any politician who sends young men and women into battle ought to have to go with them, at least once.
I'm not advocating peace at any price, but it pays to be prudent. To be sure of our goals. To be clear that we are not aggressively engaged in war, but defending places and people who ask for help. Pre-emptive war as a policy seems to me to be the recipe for the degradation of our American ideals and historical values. The more we spread our military mantle over the entire world, the more we will find ourselves in debased conflicts which will only alienate America and its values from those who are caught up in our aggressivity.
Something to think about on Armistice Day.