by Carl Kruse
It is Memorial Day once again in the U.S.A., that time the nation honors its soldiers who died in combat. Originally known as Decoriation Day, the tradition began shortly after the civil war when flowers were strewn on the graves of civil war soldiers, later turning into national recognition of all American soldiers killed in combat.
As I I do every Memorial Day, I reflect on war and death, wishing that in some future — which today seems impossibly distant — we no longer see people of any country killed in war, and that we see an end to wars themselves. Until that unforeseen and far-off day I hope that governments place the lives of soldiers in harm’s way sparingly, only in the utmost of need and for the highest purpose. This wish might seem like fairy-tale dreaming, but cannibalism was also common long ago and nowadays is viewed with disgust. My hope is we could eventually do away with war.
A Memorial Day Wish From Carl Kruse
Perhaps one day we could also create a Memorial Day saluting those who move humanity forward in peaceful and wonderful ways, a rather tangential idea on what also might be good to honor during this moment of reflection.
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This Carl Kruse Blog homepage is at https://carlkruse.org
Contact: carl AT carlkruse DOT com
In what has turned out to be almost a yearly posting: https://carlkruse.org/memorial-day-reflections/
Also find Carl Kruse at the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and on Pinterest.