Will We Ever Find A Different Way?

Will We Ever Find A Different Way?

The Resting Place For 2,500 Yong Men

I stood at this little patch of ground in Flanders and was horrified to learn that under this patch smaller than a little garden 2,500 men were buried. My first question was how could the all fit? As it turns out they had been reduced to sandbags of meat by the horror of the western front.

What!?

The Work Bench In A Belgian Farm Shed

Later in the day I stopped at a strawberry farm. The farmer showed me his work bench. It was heaped with unexploded hand grenades, rifles, mess kits and artillery shells. All 100 years old.

I asked him how many years it took to collect all these? He snorted and said "Years!"? Try 4 months. He told me the Belgian army comes twice a year and removes the collection.

He showed me the armor plate installed under his tractor. He explained the explosives are not a real problem. It is the poison gas shells that worry him. Personally I find both to be of concern. 

I cannot imagine farming strawberries in this situation. Plowing takes on a whole new intensity in Flanders.

I Am Overwhelmed

As my tour wound through the Yepes Salient I passed so many cemeteries and graves it was hard to remain sensitive to the significance of each and every headstone.

This grave pulled me up short and helped me to connect with the loss it represented. His family still felt his loss after 100 years. Just so tragic and painful. Repeat this by millions.

Is there no end to the suffering humans will endure? How can this ever be the best answer to a problem between people? 

In my own time I listened while the leaders in my own country talked of "preemptive war" as if it were a walk in the park. Thousands of shattered American families later and no peace in Iraq and Afghanistan and still they beat the drums of war. It is so disappointing.

 There is little or no mention of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and Afghans that have been killed. My culture treats them as if they do not even count. Again, very disappointing. 

Does an Iraqi parent greave any less when a red hot supersonic piece of metal explodes through the flesh of their child? Will they feel the loss any less over the years?

When will we learn to progress past the mentality of cavemen fighting over a scrap of meat? Is the greed that fuels this kind of behavior hard wired? Will humanity survive long enough to answer this question? I shudder.

My Chosen Field Of Battle

I am going out to cultivate some soil and grow some food for someone I do not even know to help shake off these Veterans Day blues.