Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Last Canadian WWI veteran dies

John Babcock, Last Canadian World War I Veteran, Dies at 109

I'm struck by this statement:

“A sergeant and officer came through and they told us about ‘The Charge of the Light Brigade,’ and they asked me if I would like to sign up,” The Ottawa Sun quoted Mr. Babcock as recalling. “It was the thing to do, and I didn’t know any better.

Could anything speak more to the macho naivete of a male teenager? Using the story of six hundred lives thrown away on a hopeless frontal assault on entrenchments, in order to cajole a youngster to join a war where officers were throwing away thousands of lives on hopeless frontal assaults on entrenchments?

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