I am a pacifist
I believe war is never the answer
I believe one life lost in a war
is one too many.
I was never a soldierI never fought in a war
I was never pushed out of the back of an aeroplane
to dangle by a thread
dropping to a probable death
high over enemy held territory - and neither was my father.
He and his father - my Grandad
lived in a pit village
my Grandad worked in a coal mine
coal mining was a reserved occupation
and as such
miners were not called-up to fight for their country in conventional ways
he worked to dig out coal
the coal the country needed to fight a war
for its power stations
power for its factories
factories to make munitions
munitions to fight a war
coal to power the trains to get it to where it was needed
so my Grandad was never a soldier either- unless you count being in the 'Home Guard' as being a soldier
ready in the evenings and weekends when he wasn't working at the pit
he never belonged to a regiment
he never fought and died in a famous battle
he never lost endless comrades.
he never got any medals
and is not buried in a far off land
Now don't think I don't care
don't believe I can't see what those who fought and died - gave
for I know so many gave everything.
My relatives gave
but they gave in a different way.
My thinking is shaped by my history
as much as yours is too
I don't sit and muse over my Grandparents medals - as perhaps you might
I don't have their uniforms in my loft
nor have I copies of their war records.
If you think harshly of what you've just read - read my words again.
...I believe war is never the answer.
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