Remembering war deaths is not reason to celebrate. According to the Wikipedia article entitle “World War II casualties”:
“Deaths directly caused by the war (including military and civilian fatalities) are
estimated at 50–56 million, with an additional estimated 19–28 million deaths from war-
related disease and famine. Civilian deaths totaled 50–55 million. Military deaths from all
causes totaled 21–25 million, including deaths in captivity of about 5 million prisoners of
war. More than half of the total number of casualties are accounted for by the dead of
the Republic of China and of the Soviet Union.”
This means more civilians sacrificed their lives trying to ‘defend’ the orders of their military commanders and governmental leader, than did trained ‘soldiers of war.’ Of all the soldiers that followed commands during the span of years for that war of the world, one would have to see at least half as fighting to defend heathen, evil empires, with the other half fighting to save God’s favorites.
When we see the root cause of Adolph Hitler’s madness, in seeking the destruction of all governments that would punish those who would surrender from warfare [the armistice agreed to at Versailles] (making death from warfare an equal option, as a more ‘honorable’ death from the ravages of reparations debt expectations) [the Great Depression], we see the mirror image of Fascists (Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo) in the equally corrupted (by a differing philosophies) minds in Communists Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. Look at the numbers of civilians and soldiers who ‘gave their lives’ so Communist philosophies could enslave the people, always preparing them for a future war that will need to be waged, against all governments that would punish those who surrender.
In the Wikipedia article, it is said the Soviets claim to have killed more German-Axis soldiers than any of the other ‘Capitalists allies.’ Even the Pope in Rome was praying for Hitler to defeat the Soviets. So, it was the Fascists who dared to go to war against Mother Russia, saving the Western Capitalists from finding out how much hatred the Communists had for them (and Stalin signed agreements to support both Hitler and then the Western leaders.
When we see the root cause of Adolph Hitler’s madness, in seeking the destruction of all governments that would punish those who would surrender from warfare (making death from warfare an equal option, for a more ‘honorable’ death), we see the mirror image in equally corrupted minds in Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong. Look at the numbers of civilians and soldiers who ‘gave their lives’ so Communist philosophies could enslave their civilians of those dictatorships, always preparing them for a future war that will need to be waged, against all governments that would forever punish those who surrender. It is the pendulum's continual swing, to and fro.
When we say, “Thank you for your service,” do we thank those in uniform who would take up arms to destroy our government, against those they have been taught to hate as oppressive? [The, "Better you than me. I avoided the draft." 'compliment.]
Do we thank those who served the minimum years, never having waged warfare in defense of what we call freedom? [Do we give thanks for peacekeepers (with government benefits) during times of peace?]
With Vietnam over for fifty years and the Iraq wars against a farcical enemy, do we express thanks as lip service given by those born since, having only known freedom? [Is it some form of meaningless payment for the luxury lifestyle that has made the modern generations fat, lazy and superficial?]
Do we thank a former military employee for taking our place in a uniform that carries the responsibility for sacrificing one’s life, if so commanded to do by the military commanders obeying the government, when most people would rather video a crime with their cell phones, preferring 'not to get involved?'
Memorial Day should be about remembering the past as an eternal projection of the future.
The future calls upon EVERYONE – civilians and their controllers … to fight each and every day for peace. You fight for peace by waging peacekeeping, not warfare. If that peacetime war is not fought, then comes the rifles, ariel bombardments and being captured into an unwanted slavery [or insane laws enacted, with violent protests not confronted, with governmental agencies blaming the innocent and sending them away to prison]. Fighting for peace is hard daily work, but it is much more rewarding than fighting for survival, while burying the never-ending dead.
This battle is never against an unseen enemy overseas. It is ALWAYS against the governmental power that be, who ship hatred around the globe … in the name of the country the civilians represent. They maintain power by enslaving civilians to their will. They do this by teaching the population to worship their government and it military as almighty gods. This is the common denominator that joins all political philosophies as one and the same.
The awakening from this mesmerization comes when some foreign power strikes down these false gods, judging their populations as willing supporters of that will. Imagine Hitler planning a 'blitzkrieg' against the United States. If your mind can see that possibility, then expect the Soviets (call them Russians, if you want) and Red Chinese to be doing that as I write. Throw in a few disgruntled Middle Eastern nations with nukes coming up with the same plan, just looking for 'allies' and the future paints a picture of few fighting for daily peace here at home.
To avoid foreigners taking one's government and military as their enemy to stand up to and go to war against, it is up to the civilians to practice remembering the failures of such warfare in the past. Remembering means each civilian must ensure his or her government and military is judged by its own rules being applying to itself, first and foremost, without favoritism.
This means saying, “Thank you for your service” should be said to the military vet who uses a choke hold to stop an insane threat to civilians, BECAUSE the governmental powers refused to be responsible for sacrificing the lives of those who would take warfare to the civilians and put a choke hold in place on crime, protecting the peace of civility.
The problem today comes from realizing instead the civilian heroes are looked at as the criminals. Rather than thanking those who serve to protect the civilians seeking only peace (the lambs who always lie down before slaughter), we thank the criminals for their service to ensure hatred and warfare never go out of style.