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Soldiers and the Ultimate Truth -
Death and Honor
By Madan G Singh
There is a military cemetery at Imphal in eastern India
where hundreds of soldiers lie. They are the men who
fell in battle at this hilly place while fighting the
Japanese so that India was kept secure. To stand there
in the evening dusk one can wonder about the campaign
they had died for. Similarly there are war cemeteries
all over the world from the cemetery at Coriano Ridge in
Italy to Singapore.
A look will tell you nothing and the rows of white
crosses will stretch away into the shadows, each with a
unit crest or name. There may also be an inscription
which could be chosen by someone who knew the man that
lies in the grave. The cemeteries all over the world of
world war soldiers who died fighting are very well
preserved. But is that any solace to the men who died?
We must remember that these men died while trying to do
their best and did not live to see or learn whether they
were on the winning side or not. Every once in a row you
may come across a soldier with no name or the words 'a
soldier of the second world war, known to God'. These
are the Unknown Soldier who died in doing their duty.
A question that does come to ones mind is 'why did they
die?' The cynic may say that they died for that was
their lot, so that others may live. Such a statement is
not only foolish but without the element of truth. Death
on the battlefield is the highest honor for a soldier
and it is important we revere his memory and look after
the relatives he left behind.
The cemeteries point to the one common fact for both the
opponent and his enemy that death is the great leveler.
The second great leveler is that the men who died would
never know that what they fought for was achieved. Do
the men who lie in the cemetery at Coriono Ridge know
that the campaign for which they died was a failure or
the men who died in the siege at Imphal by the Japanese
know that the siege was lifted and the Imperial Army
pushed back.
Perhaps not, for the end all of a soldier's life is the
cemetery or the cremation ground, But we who are alive
can appreciate that soldiering is a profession that must
be held in the highest esteem. Perhaps all soldiers who
die in action will end up with the Gods. Let us pray for
them. |
