Another Memorial Day

ANOTHER MEMORIAL DAY Yesterday was Memorial Day, a time for Americans to pause and contemplate the sacrifices of those who fell in struggle. That’s the concept anyway, but as the “unofficial begin of summer time,” it’s turn out to be more a day to remember tips on how to begin the propane grill, keep in mind to purchase relish (the stuff nonetheless within the fridge from last yr seems somewhat crusty), and bemoan the worth of gas that has quadrupled the cost of getting to Grandma’s house. I grilled some rooster last night time, Grandma’s home is 2 thousand miles away in order that was out, and we’re having relish brought in particular from Chicago for usâ€"when you don’t know what I’m talking about it’s because you’re not from Chicago. But I did really pause to consider the women and men in uniform, too. I got thinking about the occasions, while working at Wizards of the Coast, after I boxed up some further copies of books that had been sitting around the workplace, and addressed t hem to varied charities. We used to get a lot of letter from penitentiaries, but in addition letters from troopers and sailors, and organizations who supported them. Somewhere in some awful place like Afghanistan, proper now, a soldier is studying a fantasy novel. If it’s one of many books I sent, that makes me pleased. We as soon as heard the story of a single threadbare copy of one of many original Dragonlance novels that had modified hands from soldier to soldier so many times it had turn into unreadable. We did our best to get them a brand new one. Only a few months after 9-11 I put together packing containers for the ship’s libraries of about half a dozen Navy vessels. My pal and former co-employee Richard Baker donated a couple of of his books, especially when he saw that he had really been assigned to one of many ships on our list when he was in the Navy, years before. At the height of the Iraq war, I received an invite to take part in Ziggurat Con, a USO-supported gaming conference for troopers stationed in Iraq. I wanted to go so unhealthy I may style it. I even talked R.A. Salvatore into becoming a member of me, however then the powers that be at Hasbro put the kibosh on itâ€"insurance coverage was un-doably costly, or so I was advised. I regret not preventing that a minimum of somewhat harder. Maybe I was afraid to go in any case. I also only in the near past finished writing a war story for a Warhammer anthology, and started serious about that, too, and about the many SF and fantasy stories I’ve written, edited, or learn over my life by which warfare is a central theme. Some of these stories have been cautionary tales, others reveled in it. Some emerge from the Glory of War faculty, others from the school of War is Hell. Most of them, like the entire ones I’ve written, are totally merchandise of the creativeness. I’ve never served in the army, by no means marched off to struggle. I’ve affected characters’ voices that have been keen to affix the fight, others shrinking in worry of the carnage, and a few waxing philosophical on the subject, but so far I’ve shied away from telling the story I hope everybody will eventually need to read, together with these women and men who volunteered for a job that is all however guaranteed to put them in mortal hazard. Eventually, I hope, all these stories of the glory of warfare, the crucible of manhood, the brotherhood of the fox gap, will flip back to what one of many nice science fiction characters, Yoda, once mentioned: “War doesn't make one great.” I hope the warfare in Afghanistan is over soon. I hope the rest of the Americans in Iraq come home. I hope we’re not stupid enough to march into Libya, or Iran, or wherever else. Eventually, we’re all going to have to come to grips with a simple fact, and that's that we will by no means truly be a civilized folks until we finally perceive that governments come and go, and no authorities is price killing or dying for. â €"Philip Athans About Philip Athans Fill in your particulars beneath or click on an icon to log in: