IN DEFENSE OF COMMON SENSE
By Hetty Gray
November 11, 2013
“The Eleventh Hour”
This morning, in fact moments ago, we mark the 95th Anniversary of the end of what was deemed to be “the war to end all wars” — World War II. Indeed, at 11AM on November 11, 1918, war-weary Europeans and Americans alike marked the signing of the Armistice that ended that horrendous conflict.
It was the eleventh hour of the twentieth century to that point. However, it was not the first instance of the phrase. That roots in the Bible, to the book of Matthew in the New Testament.
According to one linguist, “The Eleventh Hour” is an expression referring to the last moments before a deadline or the imminence of a decisive or “final” moment. Usage of this term may be traced back to the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard in the Gospel of Matthew as well as to the last moments of the First World War, which ended on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th Month of the year 1918.
America mourned over nine million dead and 12 million wounded in World War I. Exact counts are difficult due to disease, primarily the Spanish Flu that claimed nearly one-third of the total deaths among all participating nations.
Sadly, the story does not end with military losses. Total numbers of military casualties coupled with civilian casualties number over 37 million. Let’s take a hard look at the American statistic. It was nearly 2% of the population that was, at that time, 92 million. Historians tell us that at least two million died from disease or were listing as “missing.”
Historian Michael Clodfelter maintains that “The generally accepted figure of noncombatant deaths is 6.5 million.” The figures listed below include about 6 million excess civilian deaths due to war related malnutrition and disease that are often omitted from other compilations of World War I casualties. The war brought about malnutrition and disease caused by a disruption of trade resulting in shortages of food; the mobilization for the war took away millions of men from the agricultural labor force cutting food production.
Today bears the revised title. The original commemoration, the one most familiar to those of us over sixty, is “Armistice Day.” Changed to Veterans’ Day in 1954. My 6th grade art teacher at Thomas A. Hendricks Elementary, had all students create Poppy Posters.
I lament the fact that I pitched my art folder about ten years ago. I wish I had kept it, but that’s another story. I am not sure if the teachers in the other schools gave a history lesson along with the assignment, but Mrs. Liles did. I still remember it, too.
She explained how terrible the war had been and why we children needed to remember the costs of war and why it was so important to respect the men who served in the military. I wonder. Do teachers impart that tone of patriotism today? When I was a little girl, the best Poppy Day poster in the city won a certificate. I am sure that Mr. Fort signed it. He was known for his calligraphy.
Yet, it is important to note that the tradition roots not with the United States, but with Canada. Colonel John McRae was present in one of the first German uses of chlorine gas, the Second Battle of Ypres. Less than a month later, after seeing how quickly poppies grew over the graves of the fallen, he penned “In Flanders Fields,” one of Canada’s most famous and beloved poems.
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
There is nothing glamorous about war. Today, Syria is the latest nation known to use poison gas on its own people. Nearly a century later, soldiers face an old enemy. Mustard then, sarin today, both gases prove lethal.
Serious, life-altering injuries are far from pretty. Death lurks daily, often in the form of IEDs, improvised explosive devices — modern booby traps. Inhospitable climates and terrains challenge the most physically fit soldier.
Yet, no matter the generation, countless American men and women still step forward, risking their lives to defend the nation that President John F. Kennedy touted as the world’s “keystone of freedom”. Incidentally, Kennedy uttered those words in Ft. Worth, Texas, barely three hours before his death on November 22, 1963 — fifty years ago this month.
If America will not stand for freedom, who will? If brave, unwavering American servicemen and women will not put themselves between us and evil, who will? The current lack of cultural respect for military service shocks and appalls people my age. Oh, it shocks younger folks, too, but their education is not likely to have contributed as mightily as ours did.
And just who are our veterans? The following list cites deaths in the more famous of our wars, but it does not include every historical conflict on American soil.
The Revolutionary War 25,000
War of 1812 20,000
Mexican-American War 13,283
American Civil War 625,000
Phillippine-American War 4,196
World War I 116,516
World War II 405,399
Korean War 36,516
Vietnam 58,209
Persian Gulf War 258
Afghanistan 2,145 (ongoing)
We have not achieved a total victory since World War II. We have sacrificed blood and treasure to insure freedom for untold numbers of people around the world. In basic terms, there is no such thing as a partial victory. A military either achieves total victory or no victory at all.
Organizations such as “The Wounded Warrior Project” step forward to care for our wounded veterans at the same time that government continues to diminish funds to support them.
Ours is not an easy position and current foreign policy instills more and more unease in formerly strong allies. At this pivotal point in our history, in our “eleventh hour”, we cannot sag in our pressure against those who seek to destroy us. Tenacity is difficult. Half-hearted efforts are tempting.
Is this our eleventh hour? If so, we have back up — our military.
We must hold forth to the world our unwavering support for freedom and our example of its priceless value to people everywhere. If America is to see halcyon days once again — times of tranquility and happiness with a future reflecting more stable times — we must give our military personnel unwavering support. They serve as the only protection between we the citizenry and the evil that threatens every freedom we hold most dear. Freedom bears a cost, but its loss is unfathomable — and fatal.
Thank God for our veterans. Don’t neglect or forget them. Remember the phrase, “Lest we forget.” Our veterans, old and young, are our heroes, one and all.