Trapped in the net of war
My first image of war has never faded. The impact long ago vanished, however.
It was Lebanon in the summer of 1982. The land was so beautiful and the death and destruction so great. I had never imagined that the two could exist side by side. But they did and they do.
I was there wandering around as a reporter and David Grossman was there as a soldier with the Israeli army. And we apparently came away with similar notions of how war can confiscate our souls.
Every night he did something that he admits was rather unusual and risky for a soldier in war. He would sit on a rock without his armor and read for a few minutes to remind himself of his link to literature and humanity and himself.
As Grossman, a powerful novelist as well as a voice for peace in Israel (read his book – To the End of the Land) told this story over the weekend at the Chicago Humanities Festival, I was struck by an indelible truth.
How war seizes our souls and doesn’t let go.
How you can never forget the wars you’ve seen and lived through or, for some, the wars others fought but which you are bound to because of blood or heritage or the accident of your birthplace.
I thought about this because of Veterans Day and the reporting about the lives of those coming home now from Iraq and Afghanistan and it struck me that there is so much more to be said beyond the immediate stories of these soldiers’ lives, needs and returns home – so much more about what they will carry within themselves from what they have seen and lived through.
So, my advice is to consider everyday Veterans Day as the wave of returnees grows.
Consider how you can tell the stories of the men and women who saw what I did so many years ago and what will stay with them forever.
We are trapped endlessly, as Grossman suggested, in the net of war.
Written by Stephen on November 14, 2011
Filed Under: ETHNIC MEDIA
Tags: David Grossman, Lebanon war, the impact of war, Veterans Day
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