“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

There is one greater love – to lay down your life for your enemies.

> My reaction to the posted article Brett, was based upon seeing WAY too much
> of late in the way of overly lauding the “greatest generation” and the so-called
> “good war.” As both you and I would most certainly like to see, our national
> mythologies oftentimes uplift our personal behavior and the conduct of our
> republic. But they sometimes also blind us to some historic truths.

I was a child during Vietnam and so had no real opinion about that conflict at the time, and there’s no doubt that the way Vietnam vets were treated by elements of the public was disgraceful (both in my own country of Australia and in the US). It’s a dead-set shame that such things happened, and FWIW, I respect and admire the men who served there. I’ll always cheer just as heartily at military parades for Vietnam vets as well as WWII vets.

Having said that, as a civilian and someone who has had the good fortune not to have had to go to war, it seems that anyone who wants to admire soldiers these days is damned either way. If we laud them and admire them we are told that we’re naive and innocent of the horrors and realities of war; if we decry them for fighting we’re told that we’re ungrateful for their sacrifice.

My own opinion is that I will honour brave men and women whereever I find them, regardless of their circumstances. I know war is hell; not from personal experience, but from listening to and reading the experiences of those who went to war and spoke/wrote about it. I’m damned grateful to the soldiers who served our countries in *all* wars.

I know that soldiers are just human beings; I’m not pretending that they were somehow gods amongst men whose every act was haloed with virtue. They were just people like us who did their duty as occasion demanded; sometimes with honour, sometimes not. But anyone who had the sheer balls to go off to war and act with courage deserves the respect and gratitude of someone like me, whose life has been one of privilege thanks, in large part, to their actions.

So my respect for WWII vets does not imply a lack of respect for Vietnam vets, Korean War vets, Iraq vets, or anyone else. Nor does it imply a rosy-tinged and naive view of history. But I’ll buy a beer for any vet on any day I meet one. People may think me shallow or naive for thinking that way, but WTF do I care?

there is no such thing as ‘giving your life in the name of liberty.’ the man in your story gave his life in the name of his nation. people don’t die for abstract concepts; they die for pieces of earth and privileges, for the right to continue to behave as they have.

war is grim. let’s honor our veterans by avoiding it.