Veterans Day...

Tuesday, November 11, 2008, is Veteran's Day, at least in the United States, where we admittedly have a tendency to see world events through a skewed viewing glass. (In all fairness, we changed the name of the holiday after World War II as a means of honoring all veterans.) The rest of humanity knows this date as Armistice Day, although some nations have changed the day's name as well, when at 11 o'clock in the morning, or the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, leaders from the warring nations meet at Rethondes, France to sign the armistice agreement that ended World War I.

It's been 90 years since that day, and while World War I was considered then to be the War to end all Wars, war continues to rage. The Middle East has been a powder keg ever since Britain decided it would be a good idea to take three groups of people who hate each other and tell them to live peaceably in one country. Of course, Britain at the time still thought the world belonged to them, and that all people would simply bend to their whim. The Balkans erupt in war every now and then, just to remind everyone else on Earth that they are there.

Robert said it best when he said that many people today have no idea why the war was fought. Many of them have no idea why World War II was fought. It's obvious because an appeasement mentality keeps seeping in to governments all around the world. They believe, as Europe did in the late 1930s, that if we ignore the problem, or if we just give up a little bit, then our enemies will be satisfied. If the two World Wars have taught us anything, it's that history should be studied, because ignorance of history creates an atmosphere of repetition. In other words, if we fail to understand history, then history will repeat itself.

Eight million people died in World War I. Let that number sink in. Eight million. For those of you close to home, that would be like the entire state of Georgia being wiped out. So on Veterans Day, if you get a moment, think silently about those who gave their lives. It might not mean much to you now, but there's a chance you wouldn't be here today if they hadn't.