Of War, Peace and the Distant Memory of a Christmas Truce

[pnorman]

This has been a year of war, not peace, when a president elected to end conflicts instead expanded the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan. So as it closes we would do well to recall an old warrior who came to see the futility of fighting. British veteran Harry Patch was the last survivor of World War I's brutal trench warfare.

Patch, who died in July at age 111, fought for a year with the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry before returning home to work as a plumber, raise a family and disappear into relative obscurity.

A modest man who had refused to speak of his experience in the trenches until it was pointed out that he was among the last survivors of "the war to end all wars," the aging vet finally told his tale to the BBC. What he described was the "calculated and condoned slaughter of human beings" on the Western Front. "Too many died," declared Patch. "War isn't worth one life."
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On Nov. 11, 2008 - the 90th anniversary of that 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month when World War I ended - there was dedicated in Frélinghien, France, a memorial to the most remarkable event not merely of that particular conflict but perhaps of all conflicts.

The memorial recalls a soccer game played on Christmas Day 1914 between men from the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and the 134th Saxon Infantry Regiment. The Saxons won, 2-1.
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http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/509101/of_war_peace_and_the_distant_memory_of_a_christmas_truce

"...when a president elected to end conflicts instead........" I'm not accepting this as a given. As just one of the 69,457,159 who voted for Obama last year, I recall NO such item on that ballot. As wholeheartedly as I may support it, my personal hope is that Obama will do his level best in that direction. I'm still (guardedly) optimistic.

In any event, please read that article in full, and Google it later on. On edit: Here's a good place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_truce