Kat
16th November 2006, 12:36 AM
I didn't want to put this in the Remembrance day thread in case it offended people, but I think it's important at this time of year to remember all those affected by war, not just those killed. I think it's also important that we make sure that our remembrance includes all wars and people of all nationalities.
Survivors
No doubt they'll soon get well; the shock and strain
Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk.
Of course they're 'longing to go out again,'
These boys with old, scared faces, learning to walk.
They'll soon forget their haunted nights; their cowed
Subjection to the ghosts of friends who died,
Their dreams that drip with murder; and they'll be proud
Of glorious war that shatter'd all their pride...
Men who went out to battle, grim and glad;
Children, with eyes that hate you, broken and mad.
-- Siegfried Sassoon
It's easy for those of us who have never been anywhere near a war to imbue it with a false sense of honour and nobility - war's anything but that.
Survivors
No doubt they'll soon get well; the shock and strain
Have caused their stammering, disconnected talk.
Of course they're 'longing to go out again,'
These boys with old, scared faces, learning to walk.
They'll soon forget their haunted nights; their cowed
Subjection to the ghosts of friends who died,
Their dreams that drip with murder; and they'll be proud
Of glorious war that shatter'd all their pride...
Men who went out to battle, grim and glad;
Children, with eyes that hate you, broken and mad.
-- Siegfried Sassoon
It's easy for those of us who have never been anywhere near a war to imbue it with a false sense of honour and nobility - war's anything but that.