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A forgotten truth

Posted on | 25 May 2009 | 1 Comment

Gettysburg deadWhenever war dead are celebrated and remembered, you hear two words over and over again – “gave” and “sacrifice”.

“They gave their all,”  orators will say.  Others remind us of the “ultimate sacrifice”.  It sounds grand and noble, and totally disregards the truth of war.

Most of those killed in action did not give or sacrifice their lives.  War took their lives from them without asking, without warning and without regard to whether they wished to live or die.  Most of the time it was totally anonymous – a trigger pulled on a gun not aimed at anyone in particular, a bomb released on unseen targets, a screeching artillery shell aimed at a grid coordinate, a traffic accident or a disease sent death to whomever it happened to intersect.

One story a World War II veteran told me really sticks in my memory. If I remember correctly, he was at a transfer point for sick and wounded.  Suddenly, German artillery began shelling the area.  As the shells screeched in, people were diving everywhere for cover.  He went to dive under a jeep, but all the spots were taken.  He threw himself to the ground as a shell came screaming in and felt the explosion.  He survived the explosion with only temporary hearing loss.  As he looked around in the silence, he saw the shell had hit the jeep he was seeking for cover.

Most of our war dead are not in their graves or scattered across unknown resting places due to any conscious decision or deliberate plan on their part.  Almost all were doing what they could to survive and get home.  War cheated them and all who knew and loved them.

In this day of an all-volunteer force, it is hard for many to remember that most of them were not there by choice.  They were drafted.  They were unwillingly pulled up out of their homes and lives and sent overseas to face and deal out death and destruction.

Please do not get the idea that I am denigrating our word dead.  Their service, and the service of all who wear and who have worn the nation’s uniforms, should be honored, whether it was voluntary or not.  Their deaths and the reasons for those deaths should be remembered.

By no means do I mean to call into question the patriotism, dedication courage or conviction of any of those who have fallen in the service of this nation.  Nor am I saying they died for nothing. 

War kills.  War kills those who volunteer to risk their lives.  War kills those just trying to stay alive.  War kills those who get in its way, whether they are part of the conflict or not.

War destroys.  War destroys bodies.  War destroys families.  War destroys lives.  War destroys civilizations.  War destroys hope.

War takes, contemptuous of our desires and unconcerned about whether we wish to give anything.

May those taken from us by war rest in peace,  and do so with the thanks and honor of a grateful nation.

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One Response to “A forgotten truth”

  1. Lee Dunkelberg
    May 25th, 2009 @ 13:41

    I found the story about the artillery barrage. It came from Dr. Lloyd Berry of San Antonio, who served as an Army corpsman in Europe during World War II.
    “Well, we loaded him into an ambulance. And as I was about to turn around and speak to some other people that I knew, an 88 shell whistled on through and exploded about 100 yards away from us on the railroad track. Everybody around me scrambled for help. And there were concrete holes on the side of the railroad track, and people jumped in those. And right near me there was a Jeep and another shell came in 30 yards further along the railroad track.

    And we were on the railroad track. And there was a Jeep nearby. I figure I can jump underneath that Jeep and I’ll be safe. But four other people jumped in there before me and I was left out in the open. A third shell came in. It was about 30 yards away. I knew the next shell was going to come down right on top of us. There were huge explosions.

    I looked around frantically. There was no place to go. I threw myself along the railroad track. There was a little railroad track was up above on a little knoll hill kind of a thing. I threw myself along there and hoped and pray and God have Mer, and the third shell came almost right on top of us. I’ll tell you what that was like. It was a huge explosion all around, and smoke all around.

    Screaming shrapnel whistling over our heads. The shell had hit the Jeep that I wanted to get under. There were four men under that Jeep.

    As I got out, two of the men had been killed outright. One of them had been, his lower half of his body had been torn off and one of his legs flew out and hit one of the men in one of these concrete holes.

    I wasn’t touched. The shell landed within 15 feet, maybe 20 feet away from me. Two of the men were killed outright. Two of the other men weren’t even touched. They had white powder on them. They came out yelling oh my God oh my God, oh my God, completely out of their minds. You couldn’t reach them. I couldn’t hear. My ears I couldn’t hear. It must have been the concussion of that shell.

    But I’ll tell you, that shell did me in. It took me a while to get over that. I can still close my eyes and see that shell coming in. I just started to say oh God have mercy. Oh God have Mer and bam it hit. “

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