I cannot equate wars post 1945 with defending our freedom.
I am sure an argument can be made for such but I don’t see it. Vietnam and Korea were ideological wars; paranoia against communism. Everything else; just a variation on the colonial or policing theme. All the same the men women children lost in those conflicts deserve to be remembered for the states that sent them or caused them to die will not.
I think remembrance should be about those that fell.
The soldiers that come home are, at least, alive and have families.
I resent the images I see of veterans venerated as small deities. I stand with them and support them as they weep for lost comrades during cenotaph ceremonies. I support all efforts to aid and care for returning veterans but the day, remembrance, is not about them and should never be.
It is about that youth left rotting under the mud; forever lost. The terrified executed for cowardice; these are the true poppies the blood in our fields; on our hands.
Remembrance is fast becoming an excuse for jingoistic patriotism a repugnant concept that violates the dead.
I recently watched a Canadian video showing how Canadians care for their war heroes. It was bullshit but it was good bullshit until they started slurring Muslims.
If you must fight the war fight it out in the field or in Parliament but not at the fucking funeral.
Remembrance is the time to care for someone you will never see again; someone violently ripped away and destroyed.
It is important that we remember; but leave your flag at home. Look into the eyes of those grieving and share their burden.