Siegfried Sassoon
A faithful reader mentioned to me that perhaps I mistook another piece of garbage deserter for Corey Glass in a previous post.
Please accept my fondest apologies. The piece of crap in question could have been…
…either Jeremy Hinzman (l), Kyle Snyder (r) or a number of other refuse of society. I can`t tell.
I can tell a black man from another black man, but deserters all look the same to me.
Now to show you that I’m not a totally cold and heartless bastard, I’ll let you read this.
Who grinned at life in empty joy,
Slept soundly through the lonesome dark,
And whistled early with the lark.In winter trenches, cowed and glum,
With crumps and lice and lack of rum,
He put a bullet through his brain.
No one spoke of him again.You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye
Who cheer when soldier lads march by,
Sneak home and pray you’ll never know
The hell where youth and laughter go.
Siegfried Sassoon, 1918
Yes, war is hell. It’s hell for many, many reasons. No person in his right mind would go through all that. Sassoon was a decorated veteran, knew what was involved and then refused to go back. He went, he saw, he chose to refuse. I’m cool with that.
He did not run away. He stood up, said “NO” and accepted the consequences.
And yet thousands say “YES”. Thousands KNOWINGLY do.
The reason: Self-sacrifice.
This is a hard concept to grasp, perhaps, because of the kind of society we live in. But in the end, there is a cause greater than ourselves in this world. Perhaps we are nothing but one cog in this big machine of life.
Some crazy kids out there decide that there is something to fight for in this world. Some think it’s worth defending.
Perhaps it’s right vs wrong, good vs evil. I don’t know, I never get the same answer twice.
You can ask a vetaran one of these days. Find out for yourself.