Oedipus Lex
It is with honour and a great sense of trepidation that I have been asked to write this short piece on Remembrance Day. As I sat at my computer I wondered how I could possibly do justice to such a theme, I can’t but I can at least try and explain what it means to me…
Let us put the charity aside for a minute and concentrate on the topic. We can ignore the tub thumping jingoism, grim faced politicians and the donations of profits from memoirs; what does that red flower mean? To me it is apolitical and I think this is the most important point to remember. I admire and support anyone wearing the white poppy, really I do, but I think it misses the point slightly. Remembrance Day and the symbolism that goes with it is not about the rights or wrongs of wars it is about the wrongs, it is about the people who died in them not the causes they were killed for. I will always avoid using phrases such as ‘Died for his country’ or ‘made the ultimate sacrifice’ because, for me, this implies that all the wars in which our young have died have been worthy of sacrifice; some have but we need to be very honest and admit that the overwhelming majority have not been.
War is hell. It is horrific and is the ultimate example of our failings as a society. Those that died were victims; they may not have been innocent, they may have been brave, they may have been guilty, they were often stupid and quite possibly they were the vilest individuals to walk the earth. However, that does not make them any less a victim of something that was not of their own doing, they were sent to face the forefront of scientific, processed, mechanical destruction and they did not return.
Every red poppy I see on a lapel encourages me. It means you remember people like my great-great uncle Walter who died in the trenches; you remember Mac, Stew and Cocky who were killed in Afghanistan last year and Steve who killed himself after numerous tours. For me Remembrance Day is just that, it is to remember. It is to think of those that are not here today to be with their families or who never had the chance to have a family. It is not just to think of those that died from our own countries, think of the lost of in Baghdad, Basra, Helmand, Belfast, Freetown, Berlin, Oman…
What Remembrance Day is not is a time to celebrate our martial prowess and we should be very careful of that. They are not ‘our brave boys’ they were boys, just boys. Do not turn this into a circus or pantomime but use it as a time to be thankful that you are well and your family are with you. Be grateful it is not your son or daughter that has been killed to sate another man’s ego but think of those who have and never, ever believe the old lie: Dolce et decorum est pro patria mori…
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Please do take time to read *Fragments* by Oedipus Lex – beautifully written. (and also extremely funny……well some of them..others are serious)
Thanks OL – Charon
Hear hear
Thank you for this sensitive piece of writing which very much reflects my own feelings on the subject. Both my maternal and paternal grandparents sustained serious life-limiting injuries as a result of WW2, and the wider consequences on the two families were devastating, and to a degree are still felt today.
I disagree with those who would argue that the red poppy in any way ‘glamourises’ war. Like the charity itself, the act of wearing a poppy concerns support for the people, not the politics.
An excellent and beautifully written post. Many thanks.
You probably won’t like my recent blog-post on the same subject, I suspect.
However, I will say that, if I lived in the U.K. , I would find the decision on whether to wear the Poppy or not much more difficult.
It might end up the same, though.
Symbols are very powerful and it is beyond any individual’s power to decree that the poppy or any other symbol has the meaning that they would wish to give it.
In Ireland, there is a lapel symbol available around Easter time known as the Easter Lily. Some will tell you it is to remember the noble heroes (yes, they *were* noble, even if you think them misguided – just read the thoughts of the (real) General Blackadder who sentenced them to death) who died for Irish freedom in 1916 and their successors in that struggle.
Ah, yes: “their successors in that struggle”. Therein lies the rub. That’s where the trouble starts. I also refuse to wear the Easter Lily
As in Ireland, so in England. The celebration of the fallen for “King/Queen and Country” inevitably becomes a patriotic “fest”. I know it was an Irishman – GBS wasn’t it ? – who characterised patriotism as the last refuge of the scoundrel, but you know that he was right.
It would be great if Remembrance Day was really only about remembering the dead and wounded, and not at all about glorifying the causes for which they suffered and died, and continue to do. For many, that is what it is, and I empathise with you, and join in recalling my own relatives among the number.
Wearing the Poppy, though, is something else. Wishing it were otherwise will not make it so.
Fergus – I was having this discussion with my Irish girlfriend, a former member of Sinn Fein. I can see how for the Irish it is an even thornier subject. However, my argument is simple. 35,000 Irishmen died in the first war alone and whatever other people see the poppy as, for me it is simply to not let their loss be forgotten. As I said, it is not to say ‘so their sacrifice was not in vain’ or even that they gave their tomorrows so we could have our today, it is simply to remember the generations that have been lost in the utter mindlessness of it all.
What annoys me are politicians appearing at the cenotaph ashen faced. We could argue that of all people, they should see the poppy as a badge of shame and reflect upon that. Another aspect that annoys me is how the whole thing has turned Dianaesque in recent years. To quote the arch-jingoist who learnt his lesson the hard way:
‘For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot…’
Having said all that, you have a very valid point. This is why I talk about what it means for me. Would I hold this view if my personal experiences were different? I’m not sure. I read your post and respect your position.
[...] Soldier, former banker, blogger and now training to be a lawyer…Oedipus Lex has a very fine blog. He wrote a guest post for my blog on Remembrance Sunday. Beautifully written and powerful. Remembrance Day – a guest post from OedipusLex [...]
I wear my red poppy every year to remember those who have died in the great war and the wars thereafter. They will always be remembered as they gave their lives for our today’s.