LEST WE FORGET REALITY

 

LEST WE FORGET REALITY                        

Matthew 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. [Mk.13:7; Lk.21:9]

WWI known statistics: Germany: 2 million men dead, France:1 million 300,000 men dead, England:1 million men dead, U.S.: 1 hundred 15 thousand dead. A total of 10 million. Wounded and maimed numbers are far from accurately known. Another 20 million died from the flu epidemic. Civilian casualties? Property destruction?

“The war to end all wars.” Changed everything, effecting life even now. It redrew the lines in the Middle East contributing to increased problems there. It hastened the Russian revolution. The USA, reluctant isolationist, was moved to center stage worldwide. “It was the last act of the Industrial Revolution.” As with the earlier charge of the Light Brigade, it was wrapped in glorious romantic valorous language. And it definitely led to WWII.

And the trench warfare robbed my beloved Uncle James Robert MCGee of his fellow hometown (Lonaconing MD) childhood friends . . . leaving him shell-shocked (PTSD today) until the day he died at age 81. This I remember above all else.

EBB4