At the Going Down of The Sun

Recently, I read a brief argument/exchange of views between a couple of Facebook users regarding the symbolism of the poppy on Remembrance Day. One person posted an article advocating the use of a white poppy; I don't know how common it is, but apparently this has been used in the UK since the 1930's to symbolize a denouncement of war and a hope for peace. As you might guess, the post set off a debate involving such themes as respect for veterans, pacifism, the meaning of Remembrance Day, and the meaning ascribed to war.

I'd heard some of the arguments before, having spent a reasonable amount of time around some individuals who believed that Remembrance Day and its accoutrements glorified war. I tended to bite my tongue quite a bit. I'm quite non-confrontational by nature and the idea of getting into a fight with someone about war just seemed ludicrous. And I have trouble articulating my feelings on the matter.

I am absolutely against war. Unfortunately, that seems to be how we, as humans, solve problems. Acquiring more knowledge and technology, more understanding of how everything works, and generally becoming more "advanced" than our ancestors doesn't seem to have changed this. But I still have hope that we can learn to solve problems peacefully.

It doesn't take much study of European history to see that World War I rose out of the struggle to fill the void in power left by the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. People of the lower socio-economic classes and the colonies were recruited to fight, convinced by appeals to their sense of duty, patriotism, and fear of the unknown and other. And they were slaughtered (see Beaumont Hamel, Ypres, Gallipoli, etc.). Did anyone's life improve as a result of the war? Due to the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and the worldwide economic downturn of the late 1920's, conditions in Germany after the war were horrific, and a perfect medium for the rise of someone like Hitler. Ultimately, World War II can be interpreted as the Allied nations performing damage control on a situation partially of their own making.

But I don't wear a poppy (a red one) for the nations or leaders who signed treaties or declared war or peace, nor do I wear one to honour the great military leaders or the battles "my side" won. I wear one for the young men and women from Royston, Dafoe, Muskoday, Swan River, Owen Sound, Paquetville, and Fogo who joined up because they thought that it was the right thing to do. I wear one for my aunt who, as a radio operator, heard pilots being shot down and came back with what would now likely be diagnosed as PTSD. For the people who stayed behind, worked, waited, and hoped. For the people who had their livelihoods taken away and were put in internment camps, because paranoia outweighs reason. I wear one for the people who hid and sheltered the persecuted and for the fishing vessels who crossed the English Channel to evacuate troops.

I wear a poppy in remembrance of the courage and horror of the past and in the continued hope that things can be different in the future.

Have you forgotten yet?...
Look up, and swear by the green of the spring that you’ll never forget.

'Aftermath', Siegfried Sassoon