After the gym today, I thought I'd take a walk through the botanical garden. I had a book on loan from the library that I wanted to finish (Just Kids, Patti Smith) and my home is still filled with the racket of construction work.
But, I got a bit turned around, so I decided to walk the long way through Soldier Field, and possibly because ANZAC day is this upcoming Monday or possibly because today was much more a summer day than an autumn one, I read all the signs, and many (there are thousands) of the plaques.
I have only gone to two of the dawn services on ANZAC day (two more then ahem someone I know). Part of that is because I have any known, family history with the wars. Both my father and my step-father got out of going to Vietnam (the stories on the 'how' are varied). I actually think they were both a bit young...17 and 18 years old in 1968.
I have studied more about all the wars after I moved out of the U.S. I don't remember ever seeing a war memorial in real life until after I moved. Every town has one, and most families can trace their family history back a long way. I started to go into every war museum I came upon (all through the U.K., Australia, Europe) and I often pull over to read the plaques in the small towns here in Tasmania.
I have studied more about all the wars after I moved out of the U.S. I don't remember ever seeing a war memorial in real life until after I moved. Every town has one, and most families can trace their family history back a long way. I started to go into every war museum I came upon (all through the U.K., Australia, Europe) and I often pull over to read the plaques in the small towns here in Tasmania.
Then I started to watch war films, and documentaries which I had mostly ignored before. I had a really good online class called 'War in Media', all the classic war films and documentaries were part of the class work.
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