Thursday, November 11, 2010
Remembrance Ramblings
I'll start with something I wrote on facebook after I had posted the blog..........
I rambled tonight on my blog about heroes - what makes somebody a hero? Since then I have watched the programme on TV about Wilfred Owen, WW1 soldier and poet. Everything about that war moves me - 9 million deaths, the conditions, the pointlessness of it all, the most terrible inhumanity of it....it is hard to believe that a body and soul could come through it. I am thinking that my Grandfathers were heroes.
What is a hero?
"A person of distinguished bravery" says my Chambers Dictionary, supremely courageous, using extreme or elaborate means to obtain a desired result, as the preserving of life."
Is a hero anybody who is paid to do a difficult and demanding job?
Is the doctor who works into the night to attempt to save a life a hero? The doctor was just doing his job - and there are some who have received my extreme gratitude for their dedication.
The same can be said of soldiers. Men and women make a willing decision to take on the job and receive their annual wage for it.
Nobody denies that sometimes they find their role extremely difficult, tense and dangerous.
But presumably they were well aware of that before they became soldiers.
Yes, they face death.
So do we all whenever we drive in our cars.
About 3,000 people die each year on our roads - they were not heroes when they set off on their journeys and nor did they suddenly become heroes because they died. That would be 15,000 heroes in 5 years.
The numbers of road deaths far surpasses the deaths of the soldiers in Afghanistan over the last 5 years.
Both drivers and soldiers have accepted the risk.
Now this sounds like I don't care about the soldiers. I do care and I admire them for dealing with situations not of their choosing in a balanced even handed way.
But I resent feeling obliged to view them all as heroes.
They do a difficult job well. Sadly, very sadly, some do not come home and others come home in a poor way physically or mentally or both.
Their role is supposedly to defend the country from dangers seen and unseen - the country should be there to sort out the problems the soldiers inevitably bring home with them.
Having watched The Pride of Britain yesterday I am aware that the off duty policemen, who fortunately was blessed with the necessary skills, was a supreme hero.
He brought a coach to a halt on the motorway which he spotted was on fire.
He entered the coach and made sure that those passengers, almost paralysed with fear, got out of the bus. He knew it could explode at any moment; nevertheless he returned to the coach to ensure that he had got everybody off.
Seconds after he abandoned the coach it exploded into a fiery furnace.
He didn't have to do it. he was not being paid.
He was a human being who found the supreme courage that was mentioned in the dictionary definition - just because his whole being thought he ought to do something.
That man is a hero - and yet would shrug his shoulders and mutter that "he was doing just what anybody else would do".
But I have been remembering today.
I don't know if those in our family who lost their lives or survived the most awful traumas of earlier wars were heroes.
They did as they were told. In the first world war they may not have known why they were there and fighting - communications were not as good in those days.
The old song they sang had the words "We're here because we're here because we're here." Sung to the tune of Old Lang Syne.
In WW2 the belief in the cause was strong - and people seemed to have been eager to be part of the war. Bill's Uncle Ned lied about his age to make sure he could follow his brothers into conflict.
They were all brave - knowing that there were risks of injury and death. But then the families they left at home were often in just as much danger.
So, today - the 11th day of the 11th month I remember and think of those who I never knew and those who returned with tales hidden deep in their souls.
And I applaud the heroes - both within the armed forces and those whose heroism is manifested in many other ways.
I am anti war - but then who is for it? I guess that sometimes it might be deemed necessary and wars will not cease.
I am not anti soldier - or sailor or airman.
Most are good men and women, working hard.
But I am anti being manipulated into feeling that I should applaud soldiers, just because they chose a difficult way to earn their living.
Scroll down for pictures and comments about Anglesey Sea Zoo.
I rambled tonight on my blog about heroes - what makes somebody a hero? Since then I have watched the programme on TV about Wilfred Owen, WW1 soldier and poet. Everything about that war moves me - 9 million deaths, the conditions, the pointlessness of it all, the most terrible inhumanity of it....it is hard to believe that a body and soul could come through it. I am thinking that my Grandfathers were heroes.
What is a hero?
"A person of distinguished bravery" says my Chambers Dictionary, supremely courageous, using extreme or elaborate means to obtain a desired result, as the preserving of life."
Is a hero anybody who is paid to do a difficult and demanding job?
Is the doctor who works into the night to attempt to save a life a hero? The doctor was just doing his job - and there are some who have received my extreme gratitude for their dedication.
The same can be said of soldiers. Men and women make a willing decision to take on the job and receive their annual wage for it.
Nobody denies that sometimes they find their role extremely difficult, tense and dangerous.
But presumably they were well aware of that before they became soldiers.
Yes, they face death.
So do we all whenever we drive in our cars.
About 3,000 people die each year on our roads - they were not heroes when they set off on their journeys and nor did they suddenly become heroes because they died. That would be 15,000 heroes in 5 years.
The numbers of road deaths far surpasses the deaths of the soldiers in Afghanistan over the last 5 years.
Both drivers and soldiers have accepted the risk.
Now this sounds like I don't care about the soldiers. I do care and I admire them for dealing with situations not of their choosing in a balanced even handed way.
But I resent feeling obliged to view them all as heroes.
They do a difficult job well. Sadly, very sadly, some do not come home and others come home in a poor way physically or mentally or both.
Their role is supposedly to defend the country from dangers seen and unseen - the country should be there to sort out the problems the soldiers inevitably bring home with them.
Having watched The Pride of Britain yesterday I am aware that the off duty policemen, who fortunately was blessed with the necessary skills, was a supreme hero.
He brought a coach to a halt on the motorway which he spotted was on fire.
He entered the coach and made sure that those passengers, almost paralysed with fear, got out of the bus. He knew it could explode at any moment; nevertheless he returned to the coach to ensure that he had got everybody off.
Seconds after he abandoned the coach it exploded into a fiery furnace.
He didn't have to do it. he was not being paid.
He was a human being who found the supreme courage that was mentioned in the dictionary definition - just because his whole being thought he ought to do something.
That man is a hero - and yet would shrug his shoulders and mutter that "he was doing just what anybody else would do".
But I have been remembering today.
I don't know if those in our family who lost their lives or survived the most awful traumas of earlier wars were heroes.
They did as they were told. In the first world war they may not have known why they were there and fighting - communications were not as good in those days.
The old song they sang had the words "We're here because we're here because we're here." Sung to the tune of Old Lang Syne.
In WW2 the belief in the cause was strong - and people seemed to have been eager to be part of the war. Bill's Uncle Ned lied about his age to make sure he could follow his brothers into conflict.
They were all brave - knowing that there were risks of injury and death. But then the families they left at home were often in just as much danger.
So, today - the 11th day of the 11th month I remember and think of those who I never knew and those who returned with tales hidden deep in their souls.
And I applaud the heroes - both within the armed forces and those whose heroism is manifested in many other ways.
I am anti war - but then who is for it? I guess that sometimes it might be deemed necessary and wars will not cease.
I am not anti soldier - or sailor or airman.
Most are good men and women, working hard.
But I am anti being manipulated into feeling that I should applaud soldiers, just because they chose a difficult way to earn their living.
Scroll down for pictures and comments about Anglesey Sea Zoo.
Labels: rambling thoughts
