Today is Memorial Day in the US. This is the day those who died in wars are remembered. This is a picture of a memorial site in Lafayette, California, remembering all those who have died in Iraq war. As I pulled into the train station parking lot across the road to take this picture, I saw many people there looking at the memorial site quietly and reflectively. I cannot imagine how the parents of these young men and women must be feeling and what they must be thinking right now. I think giving one's life for one's country is probably the most honorable thing an individual can do. There is much debate and disagreement about the how's and why's of wars in the political arena worldwide. Regardless of those discussions, one cannot look at this memorial site and similar ones elsewhere, without being touched by the seriousness and significance of those soldiers' lives and deaths. I pray for their souls.
7 comments:
نازي عزيز
منم موافقم كه "جان دادن در راه وطن" كار بسيار ايثار گرانه ايست ولي نمي تونم كشته شده هاي آمريكايي جنگ عراق رو جز اين عده به حساب بيارم. به نظر من هيچ افتخاري در اين مرگ نيست. كشته شدن به خاطر پول و جاه طلبي رئيس جمهور. در كشوري ديگر. كشوري آنقدر ضعيف كه هيچ تهديد بالقوه اي براي آمريكا محسوب نمي شود. تنها بشكه هاي پر و لبريز نفتش آمريكايي ها را به سوي خود مي كشد. اين افتخار نيست. مرگي به خاطر هيچ و پوچ و بي نهايت بيهوده است.
Shin Jan: Thank you for coming and commenting. My post is not at all about the reasons for the Iraq war, and whether it is or isn't a justified war. It is not about the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed in the same war, either. In fact I believe that this war and its exponential escalation, resulting in the unfathomable number of people killed and maimed is a nightmare that did not have to happen.
My post is about an army in which people serve voluntarily. They enlist and go to serve--they are not drafted and forced to serve like in other countries of the world. These volunteers are mostly young men and women, and when they die so young for a cause for which they volunteered, I feel particularly moved. Memorial Day is not specifically about the soldiers who have died in the Iraq war. It is about the people who have been willing to make the ultimate sacrifice throughout this country's history.
This was probably the hardest post for me to write and to comment. Thanks again for provoking me to think hard before I left you this comment. Be good Shin Jan.
سلام
من هم متوجه شدم که پستت به طور انحصاری در مورد جنگ عراق نیست ولی چون در متن به جنگ عراق اشاره کرده بودی این رو نوشتم. به نظر من هم فداکاریی بالاتر از این نمی تواند وجود داشته باشد. کشته شدنی برای آرمانی بزرگ. دفاع از وطن. شکی در این نیست. ممنون از جوابت
Thank you for this post. I understand the balancing act between condemning a war and supporting its soldiers.
The rest of the world has the view that American soldiers are just cold-hearted killers who sit behind machines and bomb people away. The problem with this is that we who are here see the soldiers as what they really are: young, bright-eyed kids who believe like they are defending the greatest country on earth. They support families, go to college, play baseball, etc. And they really are just KIDS (most of them) and the fact that they volunteer to put their lives in danger to preserve the greatest country on earth--that alone makes them worthy of our time spent mourning the loss of their lives in war. In My Opinion, of course.
Salam Assal Jan: Thank you for your comment. Since the memorial site is right by your house, perhaps you and I could go see it up close sometime. Some of the crosses on the hill have been painted by friends and families of the soldier. Some of them have different insignia on it, displaying his/her religion or some other attribute. It brings tears to your eyes. Several years ago, I went to Beheshte Zahra Cemetery's Ghateye Shohada (Martyrs' Cemetery) in Tehran, and the feeling there was even more eerie and gripping, as those were actual graves, decorated with the soldiers' pictures. It is truly awful to visit young people's graves--like something really out of balance and wrong is taking place before your eyes, and you can't stop or change it. Be good Assal Jan.
Beautiful picture and your comment is spot on. Thanks.
Serendip: And thank YOU for coming and commenting.
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