Thursday, May 28, 2009
A Soldier of the Great War 6
6. Given the title of the book, I'm sure that we will read much more about war in the coming chapters. Even in the first section, though, war has been a common theme throughout -- discussions at dinner parties, protests, death of friends, etc. How is OUR experience of war today different than what we have read? As a country? As individuals living in the US? As individuals living in other countries?
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I think our experiences of war are vitually non-existant when you compare it to what happened in Europe during the First World War and Second World War. With the exception of 9/11, US soil has been untouched by conflict of any kind. That being said, we have all probably been effected by war as we know soldiers who have served or read about them in papers. Still, that is somehow distant, in my opinion, to actually what happened to Europe during the wars. Food was rationed as an example and I have no concept of that whatsoever. I don't know what it is like to see war casualties up and and personal. I see images on television but that's as close as it gets and really, I'm okay with that. I respect our servicemen and women; I could never do what they do. I have my own opinions about some of the recent conflicts they have been involved in but they still went out and did it because it's their job.
ReplyDeleteThat being said, I was freakin' scared on 11/7 when bombs were going off in London and I was living there. No, I wasn't near them but some of my friends were and that was scary. Two weeks later when those men tried to set off more bombs, I was in London that day, blocks away from where it was happening. It was surreal. I was calling my mom, telling her I was okay. But that was it, I was still too far away to be in it. Nonetheless it was scary and not someething I want to go through again or experience even cloer.
Despite the London stuff, it still feels like war is distant to me. It's something I read about, write about and know about but haven't ever really totally experienced, which I'm okay with.
"Disconnection" is perhaps a good war to describe how our experience of war differs from the characters in the book. As Kate said, as Americans we have little direct exposure now to war other than serviceman friends and TV news. I think this makes it impossible to understand completely the direct experience of war (of course, I too, think this is an experience I would like to live without). There is plenty of talk in the US about conflict (at coffee houses, internet chats, and dinner parties) but these discussions are disconnected from the direct experience of living in a conflict.
ReplyDeleteMany count it as a blessing in America that we don't have to directly experience conflict. But I have to wonder, if more of us had that experience, wouldn't we be less likely to support our nation's creation of conflict in other regions of the world. The US seems to be very capable of creating conflict but has not experienced war on the scale of some other countries in recent memory.
I say this because of my experience of living on the other "side" of the WW2 conflict. Japanese people today adamantly support and talk constantly about world peace. They abhor aggression in general and strive to stay out of current wars being fought around the world (whether this is due to the luxury of US protection is a whole other argument). But the experience of WW2 is still very fresh in many of the hearts around me.
Last Friday, at my flower lesson, the women launched into reminiscing about food rationing, the color of the sky the morning the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and what it was like when the US soldiers finally did come stomping into (boots and all-very rude!) their schools, towering over them, giving them gum, and blacking out entire pages in their textbooks. If you could remember starvation, I think you would be much less likely to allow your tax dollars to build weapons and support new wars.
Additionally, I think the aversion to war is furthered by Japan's feelings of victimization. All sixth grade classes study about the dropping of the bomb, read very graphic picture books of other childrens' "experiences" (real or created), and visit the Hiroshima Peace Park as part of their school trip (and yes, in a well publicized absence of what their country was doing elsewhere). My experience of war is challenged when I sit in the back of the classroom during these history lessons. Or when all eyes glance to me for my opinion or thoughts...I still have a hard time formulating sentences in English about what I feel, let alone to explain in Japanese to small children. But I am thankful for these experiences because I am forced to see the 'other side' and not just read about it but feel the incredible direct pressure, heartache and awfulness of it all.
Finally, though, I am reminded of my mother saying once through tears about how much her father and grandfather despised Japan and all the country had done since they were so directly affected (lost so many friends) by what happened in WW2. She is in awe that I now live there and find and receive so much kindness from everyone around me. We wish my grandfather were still alive to see.
So maybe my experience of war is very different from what we are reading but I do believe I am still "learning, thinking, growing and loving" in the situations I am in, even though they are not so 'direct' as Alessandro's.