A War To End All Wars, But Wasn’t

They not only fought the enemy, but fought the elements as well. They fought for their country in lands far from home. They fought rain, mud and the enemy in trenches stained with blood from those who had fallen there before. They fought on and on while the Generals watched the slaughter from far away. For their mistakes men died by the score across the battlefield. Their blood would stained the land then and forever more. Then came the gas like a creeping mist across the battlefield that silenced all in its wake. It made no distinction to young or old, just poisoned all it touched. Their contorted bodies rotted where they fell. They said this was a war to end all wars, but it wasn’t. Almost twenty years later men from different countries gathered to fight another war and again in the trenches men fell. The mechanics had changed; machines became more prevalent across the battlefield, still men died for small victories in the tide of war. 3 July 2008