D-Day + 69 Years
Assuming my math is correct -- and it often isn't -- it is the 69th anniversary of D-Day, the allied invasion of Normandy in 1944 during the Second World War. As always, when I think about this event, I am amazed and appalled at what those young men went through to take back the European continent from the Nazis.
War has always seemed to me to be a ridiculous and absurd proposition. And yet there have been times when it is necessary -- and many times recently where it was not! WWII was one of those situations where it seems it was necessary. The brave response of so many young people to participate in ending the evil of Naziism and Japanese imperialism is inspiring and yet, for me, hard to get my head around. I find it very difficult imagining turning myself (or letting someone else turn me) into a killing machine. I find life too precious and too brief to indulge in such wasteful behaviour.
There is contradiction in these considerations, I know. And I have no resolution. As has always been the case, each individual must respond to the challenges of his age as best he or she can. Nor is there room for judgement about the decisions others make. One can only judge one's own actions and motivations, hoping always to be kind, understanding and forgiving of oneself as all the best moral codes teach us.