Monday, May 31, 2010

Quote of the Day

. . . Beneath the beauty of the lilies lies the ugliness of war. For the act of memorializing to be truly honorable, that harsh reality must be kept central. The human longing for an end to war must be revivified generation in and generation out - not just as a dream, but as a mandate. The waste, futility, and cruelty of war must focus our perceptions of it.

Just because we necessarily make something noble of war, by thinking gratefully of those who served to the point of death, does not remove the indictment of what killed them. War is a crime. Among its victims are its heroes. Yet in the modern era, they have been vastly outnumbered by men, women, and children for whom war was only catastrophic, in no way valorous. Memorial Day belongs to that legion of the dead also.

- James Carroll
"Memorial Day: Remembering the Heroes, Victims"
The Boston Globe
May 31, 2010



See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Let's Also Honor the "Expendables"
Remembering Wilfred Owen
Commemorating My Grandfather, Aub Bayly, and the Loss of AHS Centaur


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