As a child my mum used to tell me the story of my great uncle Leo. He like so many young men had joined the army to fight in the Great War under age. He died during the March Push of 1918, the final German offensive of the war; his body was never found.
Today we mark the start of that Great War 100 years on. It is not a time for patriotism and the various speeches of so many great men today reflect that the war was a tragedy for all the world and that the protagonists at least in Western Europe have now been allies for seven decades. We remember all those who fell. So let us on this day set aside our xenophobia and racism and unite in humanity.
They said in 1918 it was the war to end all wars. How wrong they were. The world is aflame although perhaps not on that scale. In the Middle East, in Africa, in the former Soviet Union, in Afghanistan and Pakistan war rages on. I can do nothing about that. Other than hope that one day the angry will see sense and sanity prevail. I fear though that is false hope.
For all those who have lost someone in war, today is about remembering.
I Heard a Voice.
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