Thank you. (I'm never sure how others will view my words once I put them down on paper, feeling oddly insecure about my ability to write lately.)
I suppose it just means I am getting old, but I am routinely horrified when I see casualty reports of 22 or even 32 year olds (not that the death of older soldiers is meaningless, but young deaths are just so awful) on the news and keep muttering to the husband, "When I was 22 I didn't know a damned thing, what the hell are they doing in the military....?" and the soldiers interviewed in the field all seem so young and earnest, determined to do their duty and risk their lives without somehow knowing the fullness of what that means. It's just awful.
Agreed. It is horrifying. Not only do these poor young people get killed, but the ones who manage to survive are forever imprinted by the horrors they witnessed. They've been taught to kill. They've witnessed others blown to pieces. They've seen things most of us have only witnessed on a tv or movie screen or between the pages of a book. That changes you and I fear for those who have to return with those memories.
I think Human beings have become very accomplished at finding new ways to kill, maim, and destroy one another - yet continue to fail miserably at finding ways to avoid it. As long as we continue to seek violence as a means of resolving our differences - we remain barbaric, no matter how technologically advanced or educated we become.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2004-11-12 10:18 am (UTC)I suppose it just means I am getting old, but I am routinely horrified when I see casualty reports of 22 or even 32 year olds (not that the death of older soldiers is meaningless, but young deaths are just so awful) on the news and keep muttering to the husband, "When I was 22 I didn't know a damned thing, what the hell are they doing in the military....?" and the soldiers interviewed in the field all seem so young and earnest, determined to do their duty and risk their lives without somehow knowing the fullness of what that means. It's just awful.
Agreed. It is horrifying. Not only do these poor young people get killed, but the ones who manage to survive are forever imprinted by the horrors they witnessed. They've been taught to kill. They've witnessed others blown to pieces. They've seen things most of us have only witnessed on a tv or movie screen or between the pages of a book.
That changes you and I fear for those who have to return with those memories.
I think Human beings have become very accomplished at finding new ways to kill, maim, and destroy one another - yet continue to fail miserably at finding ways to avoid it. As long as we continue to seek violence as a means of resolving our differences - we remain barbaric, no matter how technologically advanced or educated we become.