Once More Among the Monuments
(May 27, 2011) |
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Created from composite photos
Copyright by Thurman P. Woodfork |
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Washington, DC – indeed, the entire country – is full of monuments
to one war or another. We excel in erecting impressive marble stones
and grand, granite edifices in memory of our perished warriors.
They stand in tribute to the sacrifices of sisters and brothers
who were caught up in and killed by the vast, insatiable, unyielding
rapaciousness of war. They're symbolic of the thanks of a grateful
nation.
The irony of it all is that so many of the earnest
mourners who come to extol the heroic deeds and offer praise for the
sacrifices of the fallen and their wounded fellows also seem to have
learned little from the past. |
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Too many equate patriotism with blind faith in the words of
our national leaders. We ignore Doctor Johnson's observation
that, “Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.”
In spite of the lessons of the past, we seem all too
unaware that among those leaders are those who would
deliberately guide us into war for reasons that will not
stand up in the cold, clear light of objective examination
free of all patriotic jingoism.
We are obligated to
protect this country from all enemies, both foreign and
domestic.
We go on erecting statues and stones to
honor those who suffer and perish in our ‘just' wars, and
weep over them as a consequence of our tendency to put
emotion ahead of our reason.
We continue to send our
kith and kin off into the unrelenting maelstrom of war in
the name of God and Country. And we mourn for them among the
cold, marble monuments.
Wouldn't it be marvelous were
we able to erect more memorials to peace than to war? What a
shame that the world will never allow that dream to come to
pass. |
 By Thurman P. Woodfork
Copyright 2005
About
Author...
Thurman P. Woodfork (Woody) spent his
Air Force career as a radar repairman in places as disparate as
Biloxi, Mississippi; Cut Bank, Montana; Tin City, Alaska; Rosas,
Spain and Tay Ninh, Vietnam. In Vietnam, he was assigned to
Detachment 7 of the 619th Tactical Control Squadron, a Forward Air
Command Post located on Trai Trang Sup. Trang Sup was an Army
Special Forces camp situated about fifty miles northwest of Saigon
in Tay Ninh province, close to the Cambodian border.
After Vietnam, Woody remained in the Air Force for nine more years.
Visit
Thurman P. Woodfork's site for more information | |
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