21st Century Perspectives on War: A Concept as Old as Time

The number of casualties increases daily.  Families all over the United States watch their sons, daughters, husbands, moms, dads, cousins, aunts, uncles, friends get on a plan and ship off to the Middle East.  All that is left in their minds is the strange wonder if they will ever come back. For many the story does not have a happy ending.

Four days prior to an infantry squad leader in Baghdad, Army Staff Sergeant Darrel Ray Griffin Junior’s death, he sent an e-mail to his wife Diana.  In the e-mail he made it very evident that he was going on a dangerous mission and may not return:

“Spartan women of Greece used to tell their husbands, before they went into battle, to come back with their shields or laying on them, dying honorably in battle. But if they did not return with their shield, this showed that they ran away from the battle. Cowardice was not a Spartan virtue … Tell me that you love me the same by me coming back with my shield or on it.”

After reading this, someone could not have extreme respect for Sergeant Darrel Ray Griffin Jr. and the bravery for the mission he was about to embark on.  Shortly after this his wife sent him an e-mail it was never opened. 

Soldiers that died in past wars have similar stories.  However, in most cases there was never a letter exchanged, there was never a body brought back, they simply just never came home. Take for example the autobiographical novel Testament of Youth written by Vera Brittain.  She only found out that her finance Roland died because they were supposed to meet and he never showed.  Vera Brittain and Diana Griffin both experienced similar situations only to suffer extreme heartache and loss. There are stories all around the world similar to these.  These are the people we need to keep in our thoughts.   

No matter how great or low the number of causalities in war are, we need to remember stories such as the stories of true heroes that lost their lives to better the life of another.      

Source:

E-Mails Reveal a Fallen Soldier’s StoryU.S. News and World Report

28 February 2008