Today is a day of memories.
Is it that we want war? Of course we
do, it is part of us. But we also wish to leave it behind, to stop
finding in it what we believe to be the solutions to seemingly
intractable problems.
Regardless, there are always those in
harm's way. They go there because harm, whether imposed directly or
unintentionally by humans, or caused by the simple actions of the
natural world, will be there.
They wear many uniforms. Soldier,
sailor and pilot the most thought of, and most duly honored. But
also those who keep the peace, who guard the oceans, who fight
against fire and accident, who rush into the fray to bring healing.
All of these people serve, here and elsewhere, and all should be
remembered this day, living and dead.
All of these people, one way or
another, fight against the entropy that would eventually consume
humankind. Whether for good or for ill, they lay down their lives in
the belief that their sacrifice, and those of their brothers and
sisters, will make the world a better place. Some are right, some
misguided, many somewhere in between.
But it is not whether they were right
or wrong that means we should remember them, but that they stood
against what they believed was the line of darkness. Foes that
fought for awful causes, or who were misled by those who sought their
own power, for them we should feel sorrow that their lives were
wasted. For those that fought to preserve, to build, to ensure what
we now understand as a better way of life, we should feel pride that
these people found us worth saving, worth fighting for.
To everyone who has gone into harm's
way, I say thank you. On this day, let your memories shine forth as
the best part of humanity, the part that can find something greater
in the world than itself, without losing sight of the nature of what
we are, and why that is worth fighting for.
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