THE FUTILITY OF WAR
This is the story of a 93-year-old man and and an 11-month-old boy.
Each occupy a bookend of life; together they paint a picture of the futility of war.
My grandfather Jack Dihm was a decorated war hero – a veteran of Libya, Egypt, Greece, Crete, and the Pacific. On Anzac Day he would march, chest proudly pinned with medals of valour.
Like many young men in the 1930s he lied about his age, aching for the excitement of active service.
What he witnessed could not be put into words.
At times, a glass of wine would bring a tiny tear to the corner of his eye. He would remember. Then yearn to forget.
This is what I learned: war veterans are the greatest pacifists.
“War is a terrible thing,” he once said. “It’s not just the horror. It’s the sheer pointlessness of it all. One side says or does one thing. The other side strikes back. Where does it end?”
This conversation was prompted by my 7-year-old son (pictured right with Jack Dihm) playing with a toy gun. I thought his great grandfather would be chuffed seeing Taj dressed up in combat gear, but his face bore a mask of horror.
That particular fancy dress costume soon saw the lining of the bin.
I was reminded of my grandfather’s words while reading analysis of the latest conflict in the Middle East.
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26 Responses to this article
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Thomas Brookes November 20, 2012
War is about three things and three things only. Greed, Power and money. And more is coming. U tube General Wesley Clark and you will be shocked at the US Agenda. Kevin Rudd has stated twice in the last month of the “impending conflict between the USA and China”. Our military people have stated that China will strike at Australia first with a nuclear missile to cripple the USA communication base at Pine Gap. Australia must remove all US bases from Australia including the US Navel base planned for the Brisbane River. Fraser, Rudd and Keating are all saying it. Lets do it….
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Red60 November 20, 2012
I too am so sorry for you loss, Tracey.. Both my Grandfather and Father have gone to war.. and both were emotionally, and physically effected. Not to mention our Family.. There is no winner in war..
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red60 November 20, 2012
So sorry for your loss Tracey. Both my Grandfather, and Father has gone to war. and have been effected emotionally and physically. Not to mention what it does to the family left at home. There are no winners with war.
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ro.watson November 20, 2012
War, and its shadow down the generations, is awful for participants and innocent bystanders.
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ro.watson November 20, 2012
My mum endured the buzz bombs over London, and then worked with young burns’ victims as a physiotherapist. I think about those (usually) men with their medals who come back to their families and collapse under the weight of the trauma of war~ and all those women who suffer, and have suffered secondary trauma…and keep enduring, under the weight of war..
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Sam Stone November 20, 2012
I am sorry for your loss Tracey. My Dad’s best friend is a Vietnam vet, he doesn’t talk about the war to us but you can tell he suffers; he can’t sleep, he wouldn’t dream of boarding a plane and now sees a therapist.
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ro.watson November 20, 2012
Post traumatic stress is a real tragedy for anyone who suffers from it~ and anyone near them….I dislike the way this space is occupied by the military~even if true enough about war suffering~ civilians also suffer~and as a woman raped by two men in my own home in suburban Australia~ having sought therapy and experienced the “stigma” of being a home grown survivor who was let down by her mates~ I am no longer patient about this. Indeed, I was shocked by a lack of empathy.
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ro.watson November 20, 2012
When anyone says: “I reckon..” I reckon~ where is their moral compass? I have enjoyed some respect off, and on, with friends and family, and lovers~ and now,now it has such an ephemeral feel~anyway~ I am glad all those fighting people~ maintain their dignity and say how useless it is to follow powerful people into stupid wars….
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Karen November 20, 2012
I think that is quite possibly one of the most heartbreaking images I have ever seen. You are right Tracey – no side can claim the high ground. That child is dead because of the actions of adults, on both sides. The world needs to condemn BOTH sides, and ask both to face their judgement – on their hands be this boy’s blood, and I hope all war protagonists stand one day before their respective higher powers (in whose name these tragic, non-winnable wars are fought) and answer for his death, and the death of thousands of other innocent children.
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ro.watson November 20, 2012
Peace for its own sake~ not for anything else, or replaced by anything else, just peace and thanks for us living here on earth who enjoy our life with you….so sorry for children and their parents who have died or wilted too soon in wars…
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Layla November 20, 2012
Very true
Very real
Very moving
In the end most of us are ego hungry overly emotive beings that just can’t help ourselves.Very very sad that the end of warring is such an unlikely outcome.
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ro.watson November 20, 2012
I get you may not be addressing me~ but I shall respond anyway~Layla~with a riff~yes very disappointing that our egos~ namely early survival mechanisms~ get the bettter of those who have survived, with post traumatic stress,as adults~ from events we would not wish on anyone else~ who then after something or other,behave as,er, tragics reconfiguring ourselves into a weird, unrecognisable form~aside from the actual event(s)~which produces a profound loss of hope~ and also causes a loss of a good sleep and has a lot to do with imbalance in mood and general function…
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ro.watson November 20, 2012
Post-traumatic stress experience is something that happens after trauma…there it is spelt out~ for those of you who don’t know~sleep disturbance,and then, der, mood disturbance and ghastly flashbacks…. followed by relationship difficulties and then a sense of isolation and stigma…
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ro.watson November 20, 2012
I correct myself~ actual stigma and isolation.
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Tony W November 21, 2012
“This is the story of a 93-year-old man and and an 11-month-old boy.”
Very moving story Tracey, and vale to your grandfather. I salute him for his war service and his pacifism equally. His reaction to your son’s toy gun is revealing – no amount of distressing war photos can compare to the actuality of war. If more of us had to experience it we’d be less quick to choose sides and more interested in seeking peace.
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lucille November 21, 2012
I really enjoy your posts TonyW. I actually put one up on my FB page – with acknowledgement to you.
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lucille November 21, 2012
I’m sorry about your Grandfather Tracey. My father didn’t talk about his experience in Darwin when it was bombed, but he was a very sad introspective man, and hated the defense department.
I guess we still have ‘cannibals’. Check out this song by Mark Knopfler
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Jill November 25, 2012
On at least 20 separate occasions this year, the Israeli government appealed to the UN to take action against Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli civilians, in letters sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the President of the Security Council.
In these letters, Israel urged the United Nations to act against repeated rockets attacks from Gaza against Israeli civilians, and, at a minimum, to speak out and condemn the attacks.“Inaction today could help ignite an escalation of conflict tomorrow,” Israel warned the UN, while exercising astonishing measures of restraint that no other country facing a similar onslaught of rockets has ever shown.
The UN did not deign to take action til Israel responded to attacks on it.
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Jill November 29, 2012
Reckon there was time lag between 2nd and 3rd posts.
@TheHoopla, if you want to delete the very last post I just put up, I will not complain because it is in effect a double post.
But please leave the second last post with the links up, because this is about accurate sources in journalism, nothing else.
Good night. -
Rhoda November 29, 2012
It’s all bad. All of it. Whichever side, whoever fires the gun or explodes the bomb. We desperately need to know each side’s position, the whole history so we can find solutions. Ignorance will prolong the conflict and kill many more innocents. We need the full picture.
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Jill November 30, 2012
Hi Rhoda.
The problem is jihad, the solution is not giving in to jihad. -
Rhoda November 30, 2012
Jill, Imran Khan was shot down in flames last month when he declared the war in Afghanistan against foreign troops was a jihad. Seems everyone has their own interpretation of it.
I wish it was a simple black and white issue but clearly it isn’t.
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Jill December 12, 2012
Rhoda, a jihad is Islamic holy war against non Islamic infidels.
Imaran Khan was not giving another interpretation of jihad, merely pointing out another instance of it.
Jihad is not location-specific!More’s the pity.
