Thanks to my friend, Herb VanFleet, this essay by mark twain is well worth reading.
The War Prayer by Mark Twain
It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory with stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in…
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Thanks, Jim, for pointing this out. Lots to think about from both Twain and Eisenhower.
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Right, PT. Of course, the cost of military equipment and arms today is much more than in Ike’s time, and that makes it even more appalling.
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Yes, a strong message from Twain. I wish he was around today to offer his sharp wit.
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Me too.
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