In memory to the millions who lost their lives in the Great War (28.7.1914-11.11.1918) and every war since then.

One hundred years ago today, the guns fell silent.  Those terrible guns finally stopped their salvo of death, their salute to jingoism and heedless violence.  One hundred years ago today, the war ended. But the screams didn’t. They took longer to fade.

Seventeen million, six-hundred eleven thousand uniformed dead.  Living like rats in trenches, waiting for the shells to land.

Naturally, there are pages and books and entire volumes full of statistics.  Rounds spent, lives lost. Major battlefields, stretching graveyards. Brave volunteers, families bereaved.  Today, we hear about so much slaughter and suffering that we have become desensitized to violence and death. On our televisions and computers we see murders carried out and wars being fought.  Sometimes, it is important to step back and suffer a little, to lay our gaze upon all the tragic acts on this earth. This is what Veterans Day was created for. To remember those who have given their lives or served their country.  One hundred years ago today, the impetus was provided for the establishment of such a day of remembrance. At 11 A.M. on November 11, 1918, the Armistice of Compiègne was signed, resulting in the ceasefire that stopped the Great War.

Thirty million civilians.  Dead in the streets, dead in their homes, dead for a war they didn’t even fight.

It’s surreal to think that one gunshot echoed around the world, causing the better part of a billion more to follow.  World War I was caused by the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir apparent to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  His murderer was Gavrilo Princip, a Bosnian Serb and member of the Young Bosnia group who wished to free Bosnia and Herzegovina from the Austrian yoke.  In response to the assassination, Austria sent the July Ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia, demanding the complete and utter submission of the Serbian people to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.  Serbia refused this demand, and on July 28, 1914 war was declared on Serbia; marking the beginning of four years of pure hell for Europe and her people.

Sixteen percent of Serbia’s population perished in the war.  The Ottoman Empire lost fourteen percent of her people to fire and steel.  Fate was immensely generous to the people of Germany, only demanding a tribute of four percent.

It is important not to remember these statistics for the sake of record-keeping, but rather to embrace them as a part of history that continues today.  Our sense of humanity grew with every soul that left the flesh behind. Every requiem we gave, every gravestone erected, every thought of thanks in our minds only strengthens mankind.  It is our commitment to remember all those who served, and to make sure that our posterity will not have to follow in their footsteps shrouded by red mist. In this era of confusion and fracture in society, it is critical that we come together once for the one piece that binds us, and holds us in eternal fraternity– humanity.  In memory of those brave young men who dropped a century ago, let us thank our veterans for their courage and commitment to our ideals; it is such a simple thing to do for those who have given everything to everyone, grappled with and at times succumbed to Death’s gentle touch, and watered the Tree of Liberty with their lifeblood.

“…We are the Dead.  Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields.”

-Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915