Editorial: Honor our war casualties by recognizing its horrors, seeking peace when possible

“War is hell.” Civil War Gen. William Sherman’s oft-repeated quote is one of many noteworthy statements that have been made by people who have gone through it.

Those sentiments, from people who know what they’re talking about, are worth considering this Memorial Day as we remember the hundreds of thousands of Americans — and others — who have died defending our country and its interests.

We should especially consider them as the current administration exerts belligerence and throws out threats — how serious or frivolous we don’t know — of sending U.S. troops into battle against other nations, including allies, such as Canada, Greenland, Panama and Gaza.

Even those such as our president, who never had to endure the rigors of military service, should be able to see the effects of such horrors from the many veterans who, unlike those we honor this weekend, were fortunate enough to survive war but unfortunate enough to suffer scars that haunt them for the rest of their lives. Lifelong disabilities. Post-traumatic stress. Homelessness. Suicide. These don’t just plague the people who went through war but also their families, friends and communities who must deal with the effects of their infirmities.

It’s been said that people who understand the toll that conflict imposes on people, and upon our nation as a whole, wouldn’t make such threats lightly. That they would never show that lack of appreciation for their service that is evident in their cavalier erasure of war heroes’ stories from our national archives.

“What a cruel thing is war; to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbours, and to devastate the fair face of this beautiful world,” Gen. Robert E. Lee wrote.

He also noted: “It is well that war is so terrible, otherwise we should grow too fond of it.”

Casualties of war aren’t limited to those who lost their lives in combat. Many of those who survived have endured their own losses — the death of innocence; lives filled with nightmares and bitter memories; tarnished souls.

Those who have suffered and died on our behalf deserve our gratitude, and all the tributes we will offer, individually and collectively, this weekend.

But the best tribute we can offer is a pledge that we will appreciate the horrors of war and not take them lightly. That we will pursue peace whenever possible and not offer the threat of war lightly.

Americans generally see ourselves as a peaceful people, and yet scholars have noted that in reality, the United States has spent most of our history engaged in military conflict, most often in foreign lands.

Let us honor those who have given their lives in our service by taking to heart the words of Gen. George Washington:

“For the sake of humanity, it is devoutly to be wished that the manly employment of agriculture and the humanizing benefits of commerce would supersede the waste of war and the rage of conquest; and the swords might be turned into ploughshares, the spears into pruning-hooks, and as the Scripture expresses it, ‘the nations learn war no more.’”

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