Hero is a word often used nowadays, but in
this extraordinary year there is a convergence of historic events giving many thoughtful
people pause for reflection.
I am writing this on Memorial Day in the USA,
so it is natural to think about those warriors who died in service to a nation
whose defenders made a significant difference in two global wars in the first
half of the last century. Cemeteries in the US and on foreign soil are eternal
reminders of the sacrifice of young Americans. We do well to honor them and
their families.
How we honor those who died fighting for us
says as much about us and our values as it does about those who died. I hold these
Americans in high esteem because of their tremendous contribution to ending the
horrors perpetrated by the Nazi regime on my family and nation. So, this Memorial
Day takes on more importance as we celebrated the 75th anniversary
of Victory in Europe Day just a couple of weeks ago (8 May).
It is the very horror of total war that
raises the bar on what it means to be a hero.
Heroes take the place of others in fighting
a powerful enemy bent on killing us or utterly destroying our way of life. The acts
of dead warriors become meaningful because they died that we might live. Any flaws
in their character are redeemed in the act of dying for us. Any less than honorable
motives are forgotten.
Dead warriors paid
the price.
Their final act is
an act of redemption.
They died in our
stead.
Their lives are forever
sacred.
It’s true that the war dead paid the price
of freedom. But I think we know deep down that it wasn’t just freedom at stake
in World Wars I and II, it was life itself. The numbers are in-your-face staggering.
In WW I some 20 plus million died. And in World War II, more than 80 million
died. The warriors that lost their lives to end such destruction shine as
heroes.
In a troubling irony, total war brings out
the best and worst of humanity.
We’ll have time to think about these heroes
again. The 75th anniversary of Victory in Japan Day (VJ) is 15
August. And the Japanese leaders signed the surrender aboard the U.S.S.
Missouri 2 September. Of course, Veterans or Armistice Day is only a few more
days more on 11 November.
Giving a horrible context to all this
reflection on war are the twin epidemics about 100 years apart—pandemics of 1918
and 2020. The invasion of Covid19 has killed about 350 thousand people in the
world. Healthcare workers have died saving the lives of many in hospitals around
the world.
I think it’s that confrontation of death for
the sake of others’ lives that defines a hero.
Connections
My
Page www.suttong.com
TWITTER @Geoff.W.Sutton
Publications (many free downloads)
Academia Geoff W Sutton (PhD)
ResearchGate Geoffrey W Sutton (PhD)
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