There are a number of quotes that stick in my mind,
"Only the dead have seen the end of war." by Plato,
or Stonewall Jackson's last words, "Let us cross the river and rest under the trees."
But there is one quote of Stonewall Jackson that is not as remembered, General John Bell Hood asked Jackson if he believed he would live to see the end of the civil war.
Jackson's reply, "No sir, I do not, and should we be victorious, I should not want to."
Stonewall Jackson, a hero of the southern states, actually did not want to see the south victorious, yet never wavered from giving his all for the Army of Northern Virginia.
It makes you wonder at some of these men in history. Clearly they were not the icons of glory we have portrayed them, but human.
The Duke of Wellington once said, "there is nothing so melancholy as a battle lost than a battle won." He was referring to the battle at Waterloo.
Considering the sayings of some of the greatest military men in history, none of which glorify war, it makes me wonder once again, why do men insist on armed conflict.
The sad thing is that it is not just the soldiers that pay the price, but everyone in the combat zone.
I have seen many bumper stickers that read, "Remember our Troops" with the praying hands...
Does this mean we forget the innocents that lie in unmarked graves around the world?
