RE: Happy Birthday Dad, Where Ever You May Be
What a beautiful post and tribute to your dad! I'm so glad you were able to strengthen your bond with him as he grew older, people don't always get that opportunity.
I've heard so many stories about people not being the same after coming back from war. I don't think we can ever quite grasp the trauma they lived through. It tends to make me angry at 'the powers that be', and how reckless they have been with people's lives for their gain. Back then in particular, regular folks had nothing to go on but what they were told. No matter what the new consensus is on past wars and how they began or what they were really about, the men who fought them did so with the faith that they were defending their families and their countrymen, which makes them heroes in my book.
Thank you for sharing this.
they are indeed heroes. I remember reading a story when researching the Victoria Cross, the Commonwealths highest military honour, about Queen Victoria not wanting it to be awarded "for bravery" because everyone who fought a war was brave. The VC is inscribed with "for valour".
One of the things that our veterans and I tried to get across to the school children we did presentations to was that countries don't make war, governments make war and citizens fight them. It is important for them to remain alert to what their government is doing and call them to account. Dad was one of those veterans who took part in those presentations. I don't know how well we did getting that message across to the kids.