The eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Today marks 100 years since the end of the First World War. Four years. 17 million dead. 20 million wounded. The quagmire and stagnation of trench warfare. Prideful leaders. The Battle of the Somme. Flanders Field. The Great War, indeed.
World War I symbolizes many things, but in particular the dangers of isolationism, mutual defense alliances, militarism, imperialism, and yes, nationalism. Out of touch world leaders with short-war illusions. The sacrifice of youth and idealism. A lost generation.
But, amid the carnage and the horrors of war is always the bravery, the small and large sacrifices. Honorable acts of human kindness and valor. Compassion. Between the explosions and the eerie silences, there is also renewal among the ashes. An unwillingness to forget what must never be again. An understanding that peace is worth fighting and dying for as well. That with memorials also come the cemeteries. Rows upon rows of unfilled promises and human potential unrealized. Earth-born dreams yet to be spun.
Ypres Salient 1914-1918
Ypres Today
As John F. Kennedy so eloquently reminded us all:
Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal. – John F. Kennedy Commencement Address at American University, Washington, D.C., June 10, 1963
For all who have given the ultimate sacrifice, and for all those who have been left behind to remember the loss. We here at Narnia salute all that has been given in the service of others.
pic sources:
our playlist: Remembrance Day - Bryan Adams
The Banks of Green Willow - George Butterworth
