How Can You Remember What You Did Not Experience?

         The past two days consisted of two intriguing speeches from General Romeo Dallaire and Dr. Bill Winegarde. Both experienced the same environment of living through traumatic wars, and strive to preach peace for our humanity and good will through different perspectives. General Romeo spoke for the child soldiers that were forced to be a part of the Pakistan war. He gave a comparison of our peers and loved ones being in the front line of the battle field, ready to pull the trigger and let the innocence fall apart. He concluded that this was unjust, and for this suffering to continue is beyond horrible. Dr. Bill, on the other hand, speaks out for the unfairness of  surviving veterans. He believed these people should be taken care of properly after the post traumatic stress of the Great Wars, but the differing views of the government stood in the way. "How can the government pay billions for troops to go to war, but not spare billions for them to receive proper care?" This was a question he presented to the audience at the memorial, which led to a standing ovation as people began to realize the sad truth and severity of the situation.
          The thoughts I have from this experience are that these two individuals are passionate for our human race to be treated with care and acceptance. It is true that there are child soldiers carrying guns like we carry cellphones, and there are homeless veterans witnessing strangers they sacrificed their lives for walking by them on a daily basis. I believe there should be better treatment for the participating soldiers, and others should not be forced into the battle field. As someone who loves to ponder History, I've learned a lot about war and its results; not one of the facts is pleasant to hear. If I were to ever be a part of it, suicide would be an option in my mind too, because the  events are that crucial. It is impressive and incredible how soldiers today still manage to breathe through it all. One may argue that some choose to participate, such as the many soldiers in both Great Wars, but keep in mind they had to receive a profit and they had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Child soldiers are like machines that can only run and say yes to everything. Their little fingers manage to grab enough of the gun to pull the trigger and have enough will power to move on to new people to kill. When the guns fired off at the Memorial, many of us jumped out of the seats, while many child soldiers try to survive through multiple gun shots and bombs. The fact that some of these children have to face bullets through their bodies is horrifying enough for me.
            When Dr. Bill said, "We take peace for granted," it may seem like a typical saying, but we have to look more into his underlying meaning. There are people, including myself when I was younger, that yawn at the word Remembrance Day because it is unappealing to them. It's set every year on November 11, and all I thought about it was that I had to wear a poppy and sing the national anthem at school, I didn't realize how ignorant I was about the purpose of Remembrance Day. I believe it is right to take some time out of the day and respect those who gave everything to us, often by sacrificing their lives. There are times when we are stressed with our lives, balancing work with studying and then trying to find time for ourselves, but without the freedom these people were ready to die for, we would not be as free and privileged as we are today. These events that occurred and are still happening now aren't some romanticized shooting game or like an epic war-like TV show (e.g. The Walking Dead), it is a gory and vile atmosphere that make many look at the world differently. For those people who think it would be an adventure to go out in a battlefield and fight enemies, they agitate me because not every soldier is an Achilles that can demolish everything that breathes. Even so, he fell down in defeat and witnessed many of his peers slaughtered to the naked eye. Words cannot describe how amazing these soldiers are and for their bravery and wise beliefs on this world, I say, "God Bless."

Photo of soldiers from WWI taken by a local French couple who sold the photos as postcards for the troops to sent home.

Artist, Sebastian Errazuriz showcased the suicide rates vs the killing rates of US soldiers during the Iraq war in 2009. This statistic states that twice as much soldiers committed suicide than got killed during the war.