Voices of History

I just completed reading G.J. Meyer’s book “A World Undone: The Great War 1914-1918”. And I highly recommend it to anyone reading this blog who would like a better understanding of World War I. It is a well written and concise yet detailed narrative history of the war that pulls all the fronts and all the political wrangling that lead to the blood spilled on each battlefield into focus. There are short chapters dedicated to the main characters of the war that fill you in on their background to help you better understand their decisions and the creeping madness that eventually afflicted all of them.

Worldwide there are only 3 confirmed Veteran’s of World War I left alive. Three more soldiers to go and then this war will have passed irretrievably into history’s fog like all other wars before it. It is only a matter of time before the soldiers of World War II dwindle in number and their stories too will pass into history.

That is why I’m writing this, because the voices of history are being silenced, day in and day out by death’s ruthless efficiency. I write this because the men who I have had the good fortune to know, that were a part of this country’s historic tapestry, are passing from my life one by one. And one by one they are passing from yours too.

Anyone who believes that history is found only in books should rethink their belief. Right now in a nursing home not too far from where you sit reading this there is an old man lying in a bed who once stormed the beach at Normandy. Somewhere in your town, there is a man playing with his grandchild or great grandchild who will never forget what he saw in the Pacific as plane after plane was shot down in the attack on his ship. Somewhere, maybe the next town over, is a former nurse who went through countless uniforms as one after another became ruined by the blood of dying soldiers.

These men and women are the history of America. They have (I believe) much to offer us still, and certainly the lessons of their history should be heeded by all of us today.

I started this blog as a response to what I saw as the loss of conservatism. I promised to defend and proselytize the conservative faith, hence the name. Well…part of that faith’s defense has to be an understanding of the continued importance of history and the voices of those who lived it. So…from time to time I will be posting on historical subjects that I believe are relevant to the defense of my country and my conservative faith.